Dreamers
by Jaydeis
Summary: A series set approximately one generation after the anime. Focuses almost exclusively on the collective journey of several original characters.
1. Chapter 1 Half Awake

People often forget there is neither notice nor fanfare when they are in the presence of legends.

Many rediscovered this years ago. There were hundreds of trainers who encountered the young trainer Ash Ketchum and his companions, yet none of them had honestly believed he would rise to become the next champion. They were stunned when he claimed the title.

Now, presented with a fresh new generation of trainers, they began to forget again. Driven by a desire for fresh blood in the Pokémon League, there was a push to find the next trainer who would become a legend. So, they began picking out all the ones that rose above the rest, thinking each was destined for greatness.

They had forgotten that even Ash Ketchum had only been an ordinary young boy with extraordinarily large dreams.

Dreamers  
Chapter 1  
Half-Awake

It was quiet that day in the Viridian Forest.

Quiet in the sense that it wasn't particularly noisy, anyway. Even with so much of the wildlife cleared away, there would always be a low, soft hum in the air of bugs buzzing all around. They had returned quickly though their home had not; still, due to the hard work of environmentalists and Beedrill lovers everywhere, it was making a comeback.

A very, very slow comeback. Yes, there were always the large trees spreading their branches to the sky and creating the impression of a thriving shady forest. But any environmentalist could point out a large flaw of this forest: a severe lack of horizontal diversity. The trees were tall and healthy, but the ground was nearly bare now. The argument of how the forest should be kept was easily won when it was pointed out that the bushes they cleared away were well-known Pikachu nesting grounds.

There wasn't much point in complaining about that, since he loved the forest, but why did it have to be the over-adored rodent that swayed them? Why did they love it so much, anyway? What about the other Pokémon that needed bushes like the ones that used to be here to live in? If it wasn't that yellow mouse's home, would they have just cleared it away and let all the species die out?

Flip sighed. Sometimes just thinking about it made shivers run up and down his spine.

He jogged quietly through the forest, just as he did every Saturday. Some of the Rattatas that had moved in lifted their head briefly in his direction, but they took little notice of him and went back to sniffing whatever small edible things had fallen on the ground from the trees or people's lunches. Flip had done this many times, so he was swift and silent on the dirt paths and patches of grass, knowing where saplings were springing up and avoiding them appropriately. Soon, he came to the bank of a river.

Prior to the clearing of the forest, few really knew about the river besides those who had paddled down it from much farther upstream, and they rarely ventured down it as far as the Viridian Forest anyway. It was hidden behind a wall of trees and thorn bushes where only the small forest Pokémon could reach it. Now, however, it was exposed to all and had become a popular fishing spot for starting trainers. That was not much of a worry. The fishing itself had little impact on the area, but humans had a tendency to just leave their trash at recreational sites and let it fall into the waters or even throw it in instead of holding onto it until they could dispose of it properly. The area was degrading with each soda can and gum wrapper.

Flip stepped carefully onto a flat rock just off the shore of the river, knelt, and took a Pokéball off his belt. He set it on the stone, and in a flash of light a bug-eyed blue and white serpent emerged from it. A smile appeared on his face. "Go ahead, Dratini. I don't think there are any fishers today."

"Draa!" it squealed, and slid like a snake into the water. Soon there was the sound of splashing as the little dragon played in the wide, slow river.

He sat and shifted his position so he could fold his arms atop his knees and rest his chin on them. His eyes moved to his reflection in the water. His hair, which was a dark shade of dirty blond, seemed to stick out all over but was long enough for it all to generally be affected by gravity and hang towards the ground. He ran a hand over it, as if trying to make it a little less messy, but it didn't seem to help much. The image shattered before him as a wave splashed against his rock. He looked at his smiling Dratini again, knowing it was the source of that wave.

His mind zoned out watching the rare Pokémon jumping around and chasing Magikarp. Dratini was his first and only Pokémon; the creature had been a birthday present from his parents a long time ago. He had always wanted to train it, since he knew it would grow up to be a powerful fighter. After all, it was the child of his father's prize Dragonite, and his father had picked it himself by hand, declaring it would be the best of all the hatchlings. If his father had had his way, Flip would already started on the long road of becoming a Pokémon trainer. Perhaps he would have even begun following in the footsteps of his dad and eventually be known as one of the greatest trainers of all time. His mother, however, would hear nothing of it. She had already lost one son to the world of Pokémon, and nothing would convince her to let her precious little Flip leave as well. Oh, his father had tried to argue otherwise, but it never worked.

"He has amazing potential!" he could recall his dad saying. "Even more than his brother! I wouldn't be surprised if he was the next master!"

"So you keep saying, dear," his mother had replied, barely even looking up, "but he has even greater potential elsewhere. Why, just look at his report card! He's practically a genius. You wouldn't want that wonderful mind of his to go to waste, would you?"

"It wouldn't, dear. It's that tactical mind of his that would make him such a great trainer! Besides, you know he loves Pokémon. He spends all weekend just playing in the forest with his Dratini! Just getting him to come in for dinner is like pulling teeth!"

"It's dangerous out there, though. And there's even better ways he can use his brains and love of Pokémon. I'm sure he'd just love being a Pokémon _scientist_!"

Flip shuddered just thinking about it.

Sure, he was good at math and science and all that. But he didn't want to spend his life crunching numbers or doing experiments in dark laboratories. He was skilled in the subjects, but they still bored him to tears.

He wanted to travel and see the world. He wanted to meet new friends. He wanted to win fame and glory. He wanted to catch all sorts of interesting Pokémon and help them become stronger.

Above all else, however, he wanted to make the world a better place for people and Pokémon alike.

Dratini let out a whine of pain, and swam up to him. A hook had punctured his lip with fishing line trailing into the water behind it it.

He mentally noted to himself, _And the best place to start would be to clean up the environment._

"Hold still for a moment, Dratini. I'll get it out... " he said in his most calm voice, rubbing the serpent's head to help it relax.

Slowly, he worked the metal hook out of the flesh. It wasn't really bad, since Pokémon were naturally able to take a lot of pain and such anyway from their fighting; in fact, if Dratini had experience in battle, he probably wouldn't have noticed the hook. It didn't even bleed. However, the hook could easily have gotten caught on nearly any part of any creature, and then there was a good chance they would get tangled in the line until they were unable to move. And that was just one possible scenario. He sighed, since this discarded hook and length of line was just another reason why he hated what humans were doing to their world. With one hand he rubbed Dratini's head and with the other he pulled the rest of the line out so he could throw it away at home.

He couldn't, however, find the end. In fact, soon the line went taut. "That's funny," he muttered to himself, grabbing the string with both hands and giving it a tug. "Maybe it's caught on something. What do you think, Dratini?"

The dragon gave no response, but Flip found his answer anyway. Something began pulling hard from the other end. The hook caught on his sleeve and with a splash he fell off the slippery rock and into the river. His Pokémon chased after him as he was taken upstream.

_Figures_, he thought to himself as the line dragged him against the currents. _Someone is fishing here today after all._

Soon rocks and gravel rubbed against his face as the fisherman began pulling him ashore. Even before he could take over and get out himself, his skin was exposed to the air again. Whoever had hooked his sleeve was strong. A voice instantly came to his ears as he rubbed the water from his eyes.

"Oh my! I am _so_ sorry! I mean, very, very sorry! Are you okay? I'm sorry! Please don't be mad! I have no idea how this happened! Sorry!" Strange. He had expected some grown man with nothing better to do besides try and catch the largest Pokémon he could, but this voice was far too light and feminine for any male.

He sat up and slowly open his eyes. The water was still clearing from them and things were a bit blurred, but he could clearly see this was a girl no older than him and probably even younger. "No, no, it's alright. Just an acci... dent... "

Flip could feel the color flooding his cheeks as everything came into focus. To anyone else, this girl was not much to look at. Her reddish-brown hair was all tied back in two short ponytails, and her mousy face had two large blue eyes that could clearly be seen from behind her small purple shades. Her frame was small even for a girl, and her light, summery clothes were sprinkled with water and mud from the river. There wasn't anything bad about the way she looked, but there wasn't anything about her that was pleasing to the eye either.

But Flip could have easily mistaken her for a goddess. This was the first girl his age he had seen in a while. To help "nurture" his "genius", his mother had taken him from the world of public school and sent him to an all-boy private school. His only contact with females was his family, and even there he only saw his mother and little sister regularly.

"No, it's completely my fault!" she continued. "I mean, I probably shouldn't even be fishing here anyway! My mom had said to only use it when there's nobody swimming, but I had no idea anyone would be here and I thought I could give it a try... " She had turned her gaze towards the ground. "Please don't be angry!"

He shook his head rapidly, still blushing furiously. "No! I'm not angry! Of course I'm not angry! I wasn't even swimming anyway! But... "

"Draaa!" his little dragon cried, with a hint of anger in its voice.

Flip glanced over his shoulder. "... my Dratini was."

She looked up, and let out a small gasp. "I'm so sorry!" she whimpered, falling to her knees. "I never meant to harm your adorable Dratini! There must be something I can do to make it up to you!"

Several inappropriate ideas leaped into his head when he heard those words, but he ignored them. "You don't really need to do anything. See, look, I'm fine!" he said, standing up. "A little wet, but I don't mind it anyway. Just forget about it." He turned around and looked at Dratini, who had gotten over its grudge already and was splashing around in the river again. He could see in the water's reflection that his face was still growing redder and redder. A silence fell upon the two. He began thinking desperately for something to say, and she was thinking of some way to show her forgiveness since she didn't really buy his story.

Her eyes lit up as a thought popped into her head. "Wait a second! You must be a trainer! How would you like to battle? I haven't really fought against anybody yet, so it'd probably be an easy win for you... " Flip could easily tell that she wanted to battle someone badly, regardless of the outcome. She smiled so kindly and eagerly that he wanted to say yes.

"I... well... no, I'm not a trainer. My Mom won't let me. I just have Dratini as a pet. Sorry," he muttered.

"Oh," she sighed, and her tone of disappointment caused a pang of guilt to rip through Flip's body. He thought quickly, trying to come up with some way to repent.

"I'm sorry, but... um... maybe... oh! You've been traveling a while, right? I live just outside these woods, a little east from here. Maybe you could, I dunno, dry off there, eat dinner, spend-"

"Dinner?" she asked, interrupting. "It's not even noon yet."

_Of course. _He wasn't thinking straight. "Uh, well, even better! You can stop for lunch at my place, and make it to Pewter City before nightfall! How does that sound?"

There was a short pause as she considered this. Flip's muscles tensed. He didn't know what he would do if she decided otherwise. He could see it now: this glorious image of Venus walking down the forest path, him unlikely to ever lay eyes on her again. There was nothing to stop her from leaving either way, and he would never be able to talk his way into going with her. At the very least, he wanted to keep her in sight as long as possible. The more he was with her, the better he could preserve her memory.

She smirked. "That would be great. The lunch I packed was stolen by some Ratattas an hour or so ago, anyway. You set your bag down for a second... "

His face began to flood with color again. "Really! I mean, uh, thanks! Wait, no, I mean, you're welcome! I mean, it'll be nice to have you over... and... " He trailed off. _Great,_ he thought. _She must think I'm a complete idiot by now._

The girl laughed. "Thank you. I hope most of the people I meet on the road are as nice as you."

His heart fluttered, and he mentally breathed a sigh of relief. He began leading the way to his house with Cascata right behind him. "So, uh, mind if I ask your name?"

"Not at all. I'm Cascata," she responded, giving him another warm smile. "And you are..."

"Flip," he said, returning her smile with one of his own. "It's nice to meet you, Cascata."

"Same here, Flip. You know, Flip's really not a name you hear everyday."

He pouted playfully. "Well, you're the first Cascata I've ever met."

She laughed again. It was like music to his ears. "You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm not one to talk about normal names."

Flip shook his head. "Well, you're right. Flip's just my nickname. My real name's... well... " He trailed off a second time, and she could barely hear the real name. His face filled with color once more as her beautiful laughs arose again.

"Philip?" she asked, amazed. He slowly nodded twice to confirm it. "You don't look like a Phil to me."

"Well, why do you think I'm called Flip instead?" he quickly retorted, covering up his nervousness and embarrassment with amusement at his own situation.

Her laughter continued, and he couldn't help laughing as well. Flip couldn't remember the last time he felt so happy.

* * *

Flip's house was almost as picturesque as one from a fairy tale. It was sitting atop a hill that only rose up slightly from the woods around it, as if it were floating in a dark green sea. The house itself seemed to be floating in the middle of a lake of some sort, because it was surrounded on all sides by wildflowers that were just tall enough to hang over the heads of most small children. This sea, however, was parted by a winding crack where a stone path had been set down for walking on. The house was white with large windows flaunting their blue shutters as best as they could from behind the massive bushes that rose up against the walls. From the angle, Cascata could spot some ivy vines making their way up the chimney.

"Th... this... this is amazing!" she gasped in awe. "Look at all these flowers! They're beautiful!"

"Aren't they, though?" Flip responded, still impressed by the flowers though he had seen them his whole life. "I love their smell. Every morning, I wake up and I can smell them. It makes you wonder who would want to clear any of this away."

She looked surprised. "Clear them away? What do you mean?"

He walked up to one large yellow blossom and touched it gently. "After they cleared out the Viridian Forest, they decided they wanted to begin building houses around ours and make a road right through here. My family managed to prove that a lot of the land around here is actually ours, and in the end they decided there wasn't enough land to develop on." He looked out towards the edge of the forest. "Too bad we don't own the entire forest, or maybe we could have stopped them from clearing out all the bushes and shrubs, too. This area lost a _lot_ of habitat-"

"You know, Flip, Mommy says you make too much of a big deal about that," a tiny voice called out from the flowers.

"Diana!" he responded. "You haven't been eavesdropping on me, have you?"

"Nope, just listening to what you were saying. I don't _think_ that has to do with Eevee droppings. Does it?" A little girl emerged from the flowers. She had a similar face to Flip's, although here eyes were bigger, and instead of his strange jagged hair which was almost the color of gold, she had large bouncing curls of vivid blond hair.

Flip scooped her up into his arms. "_Eaves_dropping, Diana. It's listening to someone when they don't know about it."

The little girl still looked confused. "What are eaves?"

Cascata laughed. "She's so cute! Is she your little sister?"

He nodded, blushing slightly. "Yeah. This is Diana. Diana, meet Cascata."

Diana smiled. "Your name is pretty. Cass-cat-uh..."

"Well, I think your name is very pretty, too," Cascata replied. "It's very nice to meet you, Diana."

The little girl suddenly gasped as if she remembered something. "Are you hungry? Because Mommy's making lunch!"

"Actually, that's what I'm here for. Your brother invited me."

The child broke into impish giggles. "Are you his... _girlfriend_!"

Cascata blushed. "What? Of course not! We only just met!"

"Flip and Cassie, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" she sang, jumping out of Flip's arms.

Flip's face was bright red. "D-diana, we're not..."

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes-"

"Lunchtime!"

A tall woman with hair so light only a few shadows gave away it was blond and not white was standing at the door of the house. She was smiling very warmly at the three of them.

"Oh, Flip! You're not usually back so soon. And you've brought a friend, I see. Well, there should be enough for all of you anyway. Come on in, dear, what's your name?"

* * *

"I'm sorry I've eaten so much," Cascata said after clearing her plate for the last time. "I guess I was just hungrier than I thought. I didn't mean to be rude."

Flip's mother just smiled. "It's alright, dear. I can always make more. Now, what was your name again?"

"Cascata," she replied softly. "It's very nice to meet all of you."

"All?" the woman asked, looking at the three children sitting around the dining room table, two of which were still eating. "Then you just met Flip as well?"

The girl nodded. "In the forest. Just a few hours ago."

"And he invited you over for lunch?"

Cascata nodded again. "Yes, he did. And I'm very grateful for it. I probably would have been starving before dinner!"

The tall woman quickly searched her son's face. She could find little trace of the pale boy who was always looking at nothing with that eerie blank expression of a person lost in a trance of thought. Instead, color had finally found its way to his face, and the more he tried to hide the fact that he was watching this girl out of the corner of his eye, the more apparent it became that he was doing so.

She smiled to herself, knowing all too well what was happening, and sat down at the table with her own plate of food. "Well, that was _very_ nice of him."

Flip face became slightly brighter. Diana giggled.

"I'm guessing you're not from around here, then?" Flip's mother continued, now very interested in this new face.

"No, I'm not. I'm from an island off the coast of Cinnabar. I was registered as a Pokémon trainer a few days ago, and I was heading to Pewter City to see if a new gym leader has been selected yet. And also because I really want to see the museum. Do you know about the new Pokémon fossil they found? I've heard it's around eighteen feet in length!" Cascata said.

The woman grew slightly paler. "Oh, yes, I had heard about that one. The fossil that looks like a four-winged dragon." She took a bite of her food. "I wouldn't have guessed that you're a Pokémon trainer," she remarked, the very slightest cold tone of distaste in her voice.

Cascata smiled. "Well, why wouldn't I be? There's just so much that's great about being a trainer. It's a chance to travel to new places and meet new people. Trainers usually become smarter, since their wits are tested all the time in battle, and healthier, since they do so much walking and spend so much time away from the comfort of civilization and also change their lifestyles accordingly. They also get a lot of life experience, since they are given independence and have to make choices for themselves while still taking care of their Pokémon. And, if the person decides they don't want to be a trainer, nothing's stopping them from returning back home. They can always give their Pokémon to someone else or keep them as pets."

Flip's mother nodded. She didn't seem particularly interested in listening to Cascata.

"Most of all, I just love Pokémon. There's no way to get closer to Pokémon than to be a trainer." She looked at Flip. "In fact, I'm kind of surprised your son isn't one. He seems to love them very much, or at least his Dratini. Does he not want to be one?"

Flip looked up in surprise at Cascata. Was he deluding himself? At first he had thought Cascata was only trying to defend trainers in general, yet what she had said at the end told him that she somehow understood his situation and was trying to help him out.

His mother, however, was still very reluctant to let her child go so easily. "Well, he does, I suppose. But I don't think he's very _suited_ to being a trainer. For instance, he's not exactly the violent type, if you know what I mean. He would never be able to handle battling Pokémon."

Cascata turned to the woman. "I find that hard to believe. But, if you say he wouldn't be able to battle well..."

Flip's heart sank. He had seen a glimmer of hope in her earlier words, but now things seemed bleak.

"...then I propose a test of his skills."

Silence filled the room. Flip's mother seemed as though she were about to twist her fork. She spoke hesitantly "A test? What kind of test?"

The girl smiled. "It's simple. If you think he lacks the skills to be a trainer, we see if you're right by testing his skills. And the two most important skills a trainer can have are capturing Pokémon and battling other trainers. If he can do both these things, then he's obviously a good potential trainer, and he can come with me to Pewter City to register at the Pokécenter. Does that sound alright?"

Flip looked at his mother as well. "Please, Mom, can I?"

"Well..."

She looked into Flip's eyes. They were glimmering with such hope that she had not seen in his eyes since he was a child. It was obvious what he wanted her to say. He wanted the chance to be released and, probably more importantly, not have to watch this girl walk out of his life as swiftly as she had entered.

A sigh escaped her lips. She was tired out from having argued so many years with her husband about whether Flip should become a trainer or not anyway. "Alright. Test him. If he passes, then he can become a trainer."

Pure joy adorned Flips face and tears began forming in his eyes. "Oh, Mom!" he cried, leaping out of his chair and hugging his mother. "Thank you so much!"

She wrapped her arms around him tenderly. "You're welcome. Better hurry, though, because if you don't catch a Pokémon by bedtime, you're staying right here!"

He quickly escaped from the embrace. "Right! Come on, Cascata, let's go!" he shouted, recalling his Dratini which had been eating in the corner back into its Pokéball and running towards the door.

"Sure thing!" she responded, grabbing her backpack that was leaning against the wall and following behind him.

Diana pouted, having finished her lunch. "If he's a trainer, can I be one too?"

Her mother sighed. "Not yet. Maybe when you're older. _Maybe_."

"Okay, Mom! I'm gonna go help Flip catch a Pokémon!" she said, leaping up from the table and running towards the door. "_Wait for me, Flip!_"

Flip's mother sighed. She had always supported Flip in everything, but she didn't want to be separated from him, even if it was somewhat selfish. For the first time that she could remember, she wanted him to fail a test.

* * *

"How long have we been searching?" Flip asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he leaned against a tree.

"An hour, I'd say. This is strange. It's so empty. Where are all the bug Pokémon?" Cascata questioned, looking around for a sign of movement.

"Where people haven't cleared away a large portion of their food and cover, probably," he growled. "This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to capture a Pokémon in a few short hours if I haven't seen a single one yet?"

They both sat in silent contemplation.

"Thanks, by the way," Flip spoke, feeling the rise of warmth into his cheeks again.

"For what?"

He looked up into the branches of the tree above them. "For finally convincing my Mom to give me a chance to be a trainer. I mean, you barely even know me, and I know she's not the easiest person to reason with, and yet..."

Cascata looked at him and gave him that warm smile again. "Don't mention it. Just make sure you don't waste this opportunity! Come on, let's keep looking."

They continued walking through the forest, looking around for any sign of movement. Flip's mind, however, inevitably wandered back to Cascata.

_She's so kind. Kinder than anyone I have ever met. I don't know what I'll do if I fail this-_

She held out a hand to stop him, looking around intently. Before long, she sighed. "I thought I heard something. False alarm, I guess."

He nodded. _I can't worry about that. I need to focus._

Some familiar giggles came from nearby. "Diana?" Flip asked, looking to where the sound had come from. He could see the little girl with bouncing golden locks running towards him.

Something small and yellow with black ears was running in front of her.

"Flip! Flip! Lookie what I found! Lookie what I found!" she laughed, chasing the rodent towards him.

"Pichau!" it squealed, running up a nearby tree.

"Is it a Pikachu?" Diana asked, looking up at it. The little mouse glared at her, then began gnawing at the stem of a fruit hanging nearby.

Flip shook his head. "It's a Pichu. You almost never see them in the wild. They usually stay in their nests until they've evolved."

Cascata moved closer to the tree. "Maybe something forced this one out?"

He paused to think. "Well, with the lack of habitat..."

The Pichu removed the piece of fruit from the branch with a final tug. It nibbled on it some, decided it didn't really want it after all, and then proceeded to hurl it at Cascata.

She jumped both in surprise and reflex, then yelled at the electric mouse, "Hey! That wasn't very nice!"

The Pichu laughed, and proceeded to pull off another piece of fruit. No one was surprised when it threw this one at the people below as well, and laughed at their anger.

Cascata pouted. "Never mind! I bet this one wasn't forced out. It probably came out on its own to bug trainers. How mean!"

"Well, it may be a pain, but at least it's a Pokémon!" Flip took out Dratini's pokéball. "Alright, Dratini, let's go!"

He hurled the red and white ball through the air, and the little serpent was released on the branch next to the Pichu. "Draaa!" it growled.

"Let's see. Dratini's attacks should be..." Flip paused for a moment to think while the two little Pokémon taunted one another.

"Wrap, Leer, and Thunderwave," Cascata said. "And you probably already know what they do, right?

Flip nodded. "Okay, Dratini! Thunderwave!"

Electric bolts shot out of the gem on Dratini's forehead and wrapped around the rodent's muscles, causing them to stiffen. The gold-haired trainer smirked. Whether it had planned to or not, the Pichu released its electricity in a Thundershock, which made Dratini recoil for a moment before bouncing back, annoyed.

"Good, good..." Flip nodded to himself. "Leer it, Dratini!"

The serpent smirked evilly at the small mouse, who shivered and seemed to succumb more to the paralyzation, thus leaving it more open to attacks. It began acting cute for a moment, as if to try and pull off a Charm attack, but the paralyzation took effect and it wasn't able to move enough to complete the attack.

"Now, Wrap it!"

The Dratini coiled around the Pichu and began squeezing it like an Ekans would. The Pichu tried to shock the Dratini further, but the paralyzation only allowed it to shoot off small sparks. It was, however, able to move well enough to wriggle about in the Dratini's hold and cause the two to go tumbling off the branch. The dragon reacted instantly, releasing its prey and grabbing onto a lower branch with the end of its tail, but the Pichu slammed into the ground below.

The little mouse tried to stand up, but ended up collapsing to the ground dizzily. "Pichaaaa..." it whined.

Flip grinned. "That's it! Okay, now all I need to do is... throw a..." His momentum trailed to a stop. "...I don't have any Pokéballs!"

Diana, for obvious reasons, found this hilarious.

"It's alright," Cascata replied, taking out an empty Pokéball. "It's my fault for forgetting about that. Here, take one of mine."

His fingers brushed her soft skin as he took the Pokéball from her. "Thank you. Again." He smiled at her, still unable to control the color of his cheeks.

He turned again to the weakened Pichu. _Focus. You've weakened it more than enough. Now all that's left is..._

Years later he would still clearly remember each instant of that scene: Brushing his bangs back, even though they fell right back into place when he took his hand away; Taking that step forward before his throw; The air moving past his arm as it shot forward; The very feeling of the Pokéball being carried by momentum out of his hand; Watching it soar away from him, becoming smaller and smaller; The Pichu looking up, and having the red and white object collide with it; The mouse seeming to melt into red energy that was immediately absorbed into the Pokéball; The ball falling to the ground and settling between two tufts of grass.

It wriggled once.

It wriggled again.

It wriggled again.

And then it was still. Flip had made his first capture.

* * *

Sunset. The Viridian Forest was flooded with vibrant shades of red and orange which overpowered its normal lush green color and almost made it appear as if it had passed into an early fall.

A lone Pidgey fluttered down into the grass and began searching for a quick snack before its unspoken curfew. If given enough time, it may have found something, considering this was one of its favorite habitats: the very edge of the forest. However, before very long, it heard something and looked down the man made path nearby. There was nothing, only the barren dirt covered with the footprints of travelers who had long since past, human and Pokémon alike.

Then there was something. It could see them coming over the hill. Humans. Three of them.

The Pidgey continued looking for a little food but kept one eye on the group of humans. They continued to approach. His instincts took over, and the Pidgey flew back into his nest. He decided he wasn't that hungry anyway.

"So, what are you going to call your Pichu?" Cascata asked.

Flip shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it. It doesn't seem to like me very much, though, does it?"

"It doesn't seem to like any of us. Maybe it doesn't like humans in general?" she responded, looking at the pokéball Flip held in his hand.

Diana pouted. "Well, I don't like it either! It threw stuff at us!"

"Yeah, it was really mean. How did you find it, anyway?" Cascata asked, shifting her gaze to the little girl.

"We-ell, at-chally... it found me!" the child said, smiling. "I was just looking for you and Flip, and it came up out of nowhere! It sniffed me a couple of times, and then it rubbed against me, and then I picked it up, and then it jumped out of my hands and shook its _butt_ at me! So I chased it, and then I found you two..."

"Odd. Why on earth would a Pichu leave its home? They don't leave until they've evolved into Pikachu, don't they?" Cascata wondered aloud.

"It probably doesn't _have_ a home."

She turned to Flip in surprise. "What?"

He closed his eyes. "The bushes in the forest were all cleared out a while ago, remember? That was well known habitat for Pichu and Pikachu. With no more habitat, a lot of Pikachu left to go find food and shelter in Viridian and Pewter. The only ones that are still here are always out in the open, especially when it's time to find food."

A pang of guilt struck both of the girls. They had been complaining about a homeless Pokémon.

"That's so sad," Cascata said quietly.

Diana sniffled. "Are we gonna be home soon, Flip?"

Flip nodded. "Not much longer now."

"Good," she said. "The little guy will probably be happy to get warmed up..."

* * *

The Pichu glared about the room angrily while Flip's mother tenderly applied a bandage to her son's finger.

"I can't believe it _bit_ me!" Flip ranted. "Throwing fruit is one thing, but biting's another!"

Cascata shook her head. "I'm just impressed it broke the skin."

"Are you sure you're alright, honey? I just hope your rat isn't diseased..." his mother said, looking generally concerned.

"_Chu_!" the Pichu yelled. Its yellow fur bristled and sparks could be seen near its cheeks.

"Mom, I don't think it likes being called a rat..." Flip said, pulling his hand away from her.

"Yeah. Pichu's a mouse Pokémon. And this one really seems to have a nasty temper," Cascata said, kneeling down. "Come here, little guy. We don't want to hurt you."

The Pichu stared at her for a moment, then relaxed. Very slowly, it began walking across the carpeted floor towards the human.

"See? It's just afraid of us. Come on, don't be shy..." Cascata said, speaking in the most gentle tone of voice she could manage.

"Cascata..." Flip said, awed. She really seemed to be getting through to his new Pokémon. If one person could form a close bond with a Pokémon, then it was almost guaranteed possible that the trainer could as well.

The rodent was approaching very carefully. For a moment it paused, considering the humans with a hint of caution in its expression. Then, it began walking towards them again at a more steady pace.

Flip was amazed. "It trusts us, I think. At least, I don't think it's going to hurt us anymore for a while."

Suddenly, Diana ran into the room at the speed of a caffeinated Electrode and hug-tackled the Pichu. "Yay! He's so ki-_yute_!" she squealed.

"Diana! Let go before it-" Flip's mother shouted in vain.

Energy flowed freely from its body and into Diana's. The little girl screamed in pain, then collapsed on the ground, twitching slightly. The mouse struggled out of her arms and leaped onto the sofa. It took a defensive pose: teeth clenched, tail raised, on all four legs, cheeks sparking again.

Flip sighed. "So much for that. Way to go, Diana," he said, looking at his little sister.

The little girl sat up, and promptly began crying as loudly as she could. The Pichu was so frightened by this that he abandoned his spot on the sofa and leapt behind the couch. "Mommy! Mommy! I want to play with him!" she whined between sobs. "Why won't he play with me, Mommy! Mommy! I wanna play with him! He hurt me, Mommy! Make him be nice, Mommy! Mommy!"

Her mother looked surprisingly tolerant of the young child. "Come on, Diana, let's go play in your room. The Pichu doesn't want to play right now. Wouldn't you love to play with your dolls?"

Diana screamed. "_No_! I wanna play with the _Pichu_!" She fell back down on the floor and began kicking her feet against it.

The woman grabbed the little girl and began walking upstairs, doing her best to keep the kicking and squirming child under control. They vanished from sight, a door closing could be heard, and the screaming was muffled almost entirely.

Cascata sat wide eyed. "What... what on... what just _happened_?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, you never expect a little girl as sweet as her to have temper tantrums that bad, huh? She does this all the time. Especially in public."

She still looked stunned. "...wonder if I was ever that bad..."

Flip looked over the back of the couch, but the Pichu wasn't there. He dropped down to his knees and checked beneath it, but could see nothing; many dust bunnies and discarded toys of Diana's had made their way underneath the piece of furniture since his mother last cleaned. Before too long, though, a small spark came from the Pichu's cheeks and illuminated the area. Its eyes were wide with fright.

"There it is." The trainer reached in. He was greeted with a Thundershock, causing him to leap back and clutch his hand in pain.

"I don't think that's going to work," Cascata said. "Maybe we should just wait for him to come out on his own?"

He shook his head. "No, we have to get him out before Diana escapes. I'd just use his Pokéball, but I don't think he trusts me enough to want to go back in there." He tried reaching in again, but the mouse moved out of his reach.

"Then maybe we could lure him out?" she suggested, squatting beside him.

He looked at her. "Hey, you're right! He's probably hungry, right? They're supposed to love cheese..."

Flip walked into the kitchen, closely followed by Cascata. A large serpentine Pokémon was coiled on the table, alarming the guest.

"Nair..." it spoke, in a voice that almost sounded like singing. The creature lifted its head and looked at the two with large gem-like eyes.

"Th-that's a... a..." Cascata stammered, pointing at the Pokémon.

"A Dragonair," Flip said, opening the refrigerator. "I know. It's one of my Dad's. He loves dragon types. Ah, here we go!" He pulled out a block of swiss cheese and closed the door. The Dragonair barely noticed him as he walked to the other side of the kitchen.

She was stunned. "It's _beautiful_! Wow..."

He pulled out a knife and began cutting some small pieces. "Yeah, it's gorgeous, but it's also lazy. That one does nothing but sleep most of the time. But, yeah, it has all sorts of awards for beauty contests. I wish you could see his prize Dragonite."

She was confused. "Why can't I see his Dragonite? Did something happen to it?"

"Nah, he's just on a trip right now. He travels a lot, since he still trains Pokémon and all."

"Huh?" Cascata looked baffled. "Why does your Mom have a grudge against trainers if she's _married_ to one?"

Flip finished his work and set the knife down. "She doesn't. In fact, she fully supported my brother leaving to train Pokémon. She just doesn't want _me_ to be a trainer."

"Why not?"

"She thinks that 'I could do better'. She has her heart set on seeing me become a Pokémon scientist."

Cascata laughed. "What's wrong with that? You seem like the person who would love Pokémon science."

He shook his head. "And sit in a stuffy lab all day just _looking_ at Pokémon? I'll pass, thank you."

She smirked to herself. "...should meet Professor Birch..."

"Hmm?"

She replaced her smile with a more disarming one. "Don't mind me, just thinking aloud."

He nodded. "Come on, let's take this back to the Pichu." He crossed the room again to quickly put the cheese back in the refrigerator while the Dragonair closed its eyes and drifted back to sleep.

The two returned to the living room. Flip set a small plate with a piece of cheese on it on the floor in front of the couch. "Let's hope this works..."

They waited, and soon they could see movement under the couch. It was not long before the Pichu's face emerged from the shadows and began sniffing the cheese left for it. There was a pause, and then the electric rodent devoured the swiss cheese in seconds.

"Wow. It was either very hungry or he really loves cheese," Cascata said. The mouse looked up at them as if begging for more.

Flip smiled. He took out a second piece of cheese and set it halfway between him and the Pokémon. It was quick to eat this one as well. Then, he took out a third piece of cheese. The Pichu waited for him to set this one down as well, but instead he just lowered his hand so the little mouse could reach it.

"If you want it, you have to trust me," he said to the rodent.

It was hesitant. After all, it had been rushed by a smaller human when it tried to trust these humans before. However, its dark and dust-filled sanctuary wasn't too far, so it approached his hand and sniffed him.

The rodent paused. It felt strange. A new feeling was coming over it, the mysterious force that connects a trainer and their Pokémon. It had its doubts still, but there was something inside it that was telling him to trust this boy. The Pichu quickly ate the cheese, then climbed into its trainer's lap.

"Impressive. That was really clever, Flip," Cascata said.

He rubbed the Pokémon's head gently. "It's a big step in the right direction, at least."

The Pichu let out a small yawn before curling up and letting itself fall asleep.

* * *

"Will this do for tonight, dear?" Flip's mother asked. "This used to be Flip's older brother's room, but ever since he left to be a trainer, we've used it for guests."

"It's a little _large_ for a guest bedroom, isn't it?" Cascata responded. She had not wanted to mention it before, but the entire house had seemed 'rather large' compared to the small island home she had grown up inside.

"Oh, nonsense, it only looks that way because it's empty. Sleep well!" With that, the woman departed, not giving the girl a chance to get another word in.

Cascata shook her head. "What an odd woman..." she muttered to herself. She dropped her backpack on the bed and began to let her hair down. As she did this, she noted a digital clock on the otherwise barren bureau which read "10:21" in large red letters.

"Has it really gotten so late?" she asked herself, pulling the elastic out of her second ponytail. "Funny. I thought I'd be sleeping in a Pokécenter right now."

She rummaged through her bag, and pulled out a light blue nightgown and a hairbrush. Leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor, she slipped on the nightgown and began walking around the room while brushing her hair.

"Then again, this is much better anyway. I don't remember the last time I've slept somewhere so nice. Flip is really lucky."

She stopped nearby the window. Outside, the stars were shimmering brightly. In fact, Cascata couldn't recall the last time she saw the stars so clearly. The moon was bright and clear that night as well, and the moonlight was reflected off the dew gathered on the flowers below. It was like looking out on a sea of sparkling lights.

"It's nice, isn't it?"

Cascata turned around. Flip was standing outside her doorway, wearing some dark blue pajamas. His Dratini was draped over his shoulders, looking ready to fall asleep. The Pichu was nowhere to be seen.

He smiled. "You know, how peaceful it is out there at night."

"Oh, yes, it's beautiful here," she remarked, smiling back.

His smile dropped. "Something wrong? You sound kind of... sad."

Cascata turned back around. "It's nothing, really, just... well..."

"I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me. We only just met this morning. I'll let you get some sleep," he said, turning to leave.

"No, stay for a little bit. It's nice to have someone to talk to," she said, turning her head. "It'll probably sound silly."

Flip turned back. "What do you mean?"

"I... I don't want to be rivals with you."

There was an awkward pause. "What?" Flip asked, surprised.

She began playing with her hairbrush. "You know. I don't want to think of you as a rival trainer. As... as some kind of enemy." With a sigh, she shook her head. "But, there's not much we can do about that, is there? Trainers are rivals, fighting one another for greatness..."

"Cascata..." he said, starting to walk towards her.

Her depressing tone was cut off by somewhat forced sounding laughter. "Oh, what am I talking about? I'm sorry. I think I'm just tired. Sorry to have worried you. Goodnight, Flip!" She flashed a smile at him and continued brushing her hair.

The boy was about to say something, but stopped himself. "Goodnight, Cassie," he chose to say instead, leaving.

Though her eyes were closed, she knew he was gone because she heard him close the door. "...shouldn't even have brought it up..." she sighed to herself.

As she sighed, her nose was filled with the smell of the wildflowers. She looked out at them once more, then turned off the lights in the room and climbed into bed.

* * *

Flip sat wide-eyed in the darkness, looking around at the familiar shapes and objects of his room. Sleep refused to come for him.

If all went well the next day, he would never see this room again for a long time.

_If all goes well..._

He shut his eyes tightly. The last thing he wanted was to be half-awake tomorrow.

He opened his eyes again. _What if I'm only half-awake right now? What if I drifted off by the river bed, and this is all just some beautiful dream, a fantasy that will vanish before my eyes when I least expect it?_

He shoved his head underneath a pillow, trying to stop the flow of thoughts and aid his quest to fall asleep.

But, still the more he tried to stop the insane thoughts, the stronger they came. _What if Cascata is just a dream, too? Will she still be there tomorrow, with those big, gleaming eyes of hers? That innocent smile? Is she just a figment of my imagination?_

"Stop it..." he unintentionally said aloud, though it was mostly muffled by the pillow.

"Draaa?"

Flip uncovered his face. Dratini had woken up and was looking at him with large, worried eyes. "S-sorry, Dratini. I'm okay. Really. Go back to sleep."

The little dragon continued to stare at him for a moment. Then, despite what instincts told it, the Dratini obeyed. It rubbed against his face in a way that seemed to try and make him feel better, then curled back up on his chest and fell asleep.

Flip sighed, wishing he could do the same.

* * *

"Squir?"

A light blue turtle was sitting on Cascata's chest, eagerly waiting for her to wake up. It tapped gently on the side of her head for the fifth time, and awaited a reaction.

For once, it got one. She slowly stirred for a moment or two, and eventually confirmed her Pokémon's belief that she would wake up by daintily opening her eyes to let the morning light in.

She sat up and the Squirtle dropped into her lap. Her freshly opened eyes squeezed themselves shut again as she yawned and stretched her arms out. Not a moment later, her attention was back on the creature that woke her up. "Good morning, Wade. Did you sleep well?" she said with a flash of her typical cheery smile.

The Pokémon grinned. "Squirt squirtle squirt!" He hopped off the bed and began pulling some clean clothes for his trainer out of her backpack.

"It looks like it's going to be a really nice day." There was not a single cloud to be seen over the lush treetops of the Viridian Forest, or at least not from her limited view from the distant window. "That's good!"

She sighed contently. This place was so different from the island she was used to, with its more tropical vegetation and the refreshing sea breeze replacing the dense forest and the smell of wildflowers. That only made this place seem nicer. It was a change of pace, a break from the ordinary.

"I wonder what other nice places are out there," she wondered aloud, half asking herself and half asking her Squirtle.

For a while, she gazed out the window, daydreaming.

"What do you think Wade?" She turned back to him. "_Wade_!" In her fantasizing, she had not realized the water Pokémon had gone beyond getting her a change of clothes for the day and was pulling out all her clean clothes in a messy heap on the floor.

Wade looked up and gave her a big, goofy smile. "Squirt!" he responded happily. He apparently thought he was still helping, because he didn't understand why his trainer shook her head and sighed.

* * *

Someone knocked on the door to Flip's bedroom. "Are you up yet, Flip?" the voice of Cascata drifted through the door.

He shuffled under his blanket, but otherwise made no move to get out of bed. Having trouble falling asleep the night before, he wasn't exactly eager to get out of bed now.

She knocked again. "Flip? You might want to get out of bed soon. You won't get to sleep in like this when you're a trainer."

His eyes reluctantly opened and he let out a small yawn. "Sleep in?" he muttered to himself. It felt rather early.

The knock came again. "Flip, come on. We're not in that much of a rush today, but we want as much time as possible for your first battle. That way we can head off for Pewter City afterwards and get you registered."

He sat up, mumbling to himself, "What is she talking about? The battle can't take that long. Pewter City is a stone's throw away. And registering as a trainer might take a few hours, but-"

His eyes snapped open as they fell on the clock. It was almost one in the afternoon.

Miraculously and very fortunately, his mother did not hear what he yelled in reaction to this.

He leapt out of bed, sending his Dratini flying across the room and into a basket of dirty clothing. By the time that the little dragon had finished struggling with one of his shirts, Flip had already gotten out of pajamas and was putting on clean clothes. He finished getting dressed with incredible speed and grabbed Dratini's Pokéball off his nightstand. In his haste, he forgot that there were now two Pokéballs, and thus the Pichu's container fell to the floor in a way that caused the rodent to be released. The moment after making his mistake he sought to correct it, but did not realize the Pokémon was already out and ended up stepping on the little creature's tail. It had been sleeping peacefully until then, so it was not surprising that, due to this rude awakening, Flip and everything else in the room was engulfed in electricity.

"Flip? Are you alright?" Cascata asked, still waiting outside the door. A worried and confused look had settled on her brow.

The door swung open very suddenly, and there stood one lightly toasted Flip. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't realize how late it was." Dratini slithered out from behind him and flopped on the floor, dazed.

Cascata's mood brightened right away. "I see. So, breakfast and then battle?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess. Hey, what are you staring at?"

"You seem to have your shirt on backwards." She pointed to the collar.

Flip looked down to see a tag poking out the neck of his shirt. "Oh! Give me a minute." He retreated back into his room and closed the door.

Right away he began pulling off his shirt, but then he remembered the Pichu. It was no longer sitting at the foot of the nightstand where the Pokéball had dropped. With a grumble under his breath, he picked the empty Pokéball off the floor and began searching for the little mouse.

It was one of those things that were easier said than done, though. His room was an absolute mess. Clothes, textbooks, school papers, and Dratini's things were all piled up in random places and there was not a trace of order to be seen. Having no other choice, he began digging through the separate piles one by one.

He slowly made his way around the room only to come up empty-handed. He was about to start checking everything again when a telltale spark caught his eye from beneath his bed. "So, that's where you went..." Flip got down on his hands and knees and peered into the darkness. Just as he expected; there was a familiar looking silhouette that emitted sparks every now and then, lighting up the darkness just enough to let him clearly see the Pichu.

He slowly reached under the bed. The Pichu, in response, gave him a small shock of electricity, causing him to pull his hand back and shake it up and down.

"Come on, Pichu. You can't have forgotten me already. Remember yesterday? When I gave you the cheese?" Flip smiled in an attempt to relax the Pichu. It seemed to emit sparks less frequently.

He could see it shift in some way, and then the form began moving towards him. He let out a small sigh of relief. The Pichu still trusted him...

Or so it seemed. At the last moment the rodent stopped. Its tail had gotten caught on a nail sticking out of one of the pieces of wood that made up the bed, and the tail was now pulled rather tight. Flip caught on to this quickly, and began freeing the little mouse's tail. By doing this, he ended up pulling a little too hard and caused pain to shoot through the Pichu's body, giving it a painful reminder of what had put it in such a foul mood in the first place: Flip stepping on its tail. It sent a much more powerful surge of electricity through Flip's body and retreated to the farthest reaches of beneath Flip's bed.

Flip sighed. "Looks like we're back to square one."

* * *

Sometime later, Flip stumbled into the living room. His skin and clothes were unusually charred and his hair was sticking out more randomly than usual. Diana was too caught up in watching cartoons to notice him at all, but Cascata saw him and began adding things up in her head right away.

"I thought Pichu trusted you. What happened?" she asked with a concerned expression on her face.

He flopped on the couch, not making eye contact with her. "I accidentally stepped on its tail."

"Oh," she said, nodding to herself. "Well, that's too bad. Getting a Pokémon to trust you at first is never easy, especially with one as moody as that Pichu. You know, after seeing how you calmed it down yesterday, I thought that you wouldn't have any more problems with the little guy, but it looks like it won't be that easy, huh?"

Flip held the rodent's pokéball in one hand. "Anyway, I think it'll have calmed down by now, so-"

Cascata's eyes widened. "You put it in its pokéball? When it was in a bad mood?"

"What's wrong with that?" His finger was still on the button to release the Pichu.

"D-don't you know? Pichu and its evolutions, in general, dislike being forced into pokéballs and staying in them for extended periods of time. Before you can train them to adjust, they're usually very upset about it, and it makes them considerably... grumpy." She began moving away from Flip.

His eyes widened as well. "Som what you're saying is he'll be in a worse mood than before?" Cascata nodded. "Wh-what do I do, then! I can't let him out-"

She shook her head. "No! If you leave him in there even longer, he'll just get angrier! Better to deal with him now!" She stood up off the couch and took some steps back from Flip.

He gulped nervously. Cascata was right; avoiding the problem would only make it worse. So, he squeezed his eyes as tightly shut as he could, bracing himself for the charge of electricity, held the pokéball at arm's length and pressed the button.

He remained frozen in that pose for at least ten seconds after the ball had opened, revealing nothing. Slowly, he opened the eye closest to the pokéball and checked to see if the coast was clear. The Pichu, apparently, was already gone.

"Uh, Flip, are you sure that's Pichu's pokéball?" Cascata asked, moving back towards him.

He looked utterly confused, his arm still extended. "I'm positive! Where-."

Their questions were quickly answered as Diana laughed in response to the cartoon she was watching. A second, squeakier voice was laughing in harmony with hers, and the two older humans recognized it immediately. The little mouse was sitting on her lap, watching television blissfully.

Diana smiled at the Pichu. "You're so _cute_!"

The Pichu returned the smile. "Pi pichu pichu!"

The two laughed happily while Flip and Cascata watched in stunned silence.

"Fickle little creature, isn't it?" Cascata said, finally turning back towards Flip.

"Yeah, but at least Diana's calmed him down, right?" Flip finally relaxed his arms. "So, uh, I'll just go eat something quickly and then I'll meet you outside. Alright?"

"Sounds fine to me," Cascata responded. Flip stood up and headed off into the kitchen, leaving Cascata to just shake her head.

"How did Pichu get out? How peculiar..."

* * *

"Flip!"

He was mere moments from the door with Dratini and Pichu resting on either shoulder when his mother's calling grabbed his attention. He turned around to face her. "What is it, Mom?"

She smiled sweetly. "Don't you want your backpack?"

He was confused. "Mom, I don't have a backpack. All my stuff just stays at school, remember?"

"Well, you do now!" She revealed a brand new backpack from behind her back. It was black with gold-colored zippers and already stuffed with clothes and supplies. "Do you like it? I went shopping to get you one this morning and put your things in it while you were eating."

Flip took it from her hands. "I... Mom, I thought you didn't want me to become a trainer. What made you change your mind all of a sudden?"

She sighed. "I still don't, but that doesn't really matter. I always had a feeling you would become a trainer whether I liked it or not, and here you are, doing exactly that. You still have to win one battle, but there's no doubt in my mind you will." She laughed, but Flip could swear he caught the sparkle of a tear in her eye. "You and your brother were always just as stubborn as your father. I'll always support your decisions, Philip, even if I don't agree with them."

Flip pouted. "Don't call me Philip." Then, he put down the backpack and wrapped his arms around his mother, causing the two Pokémon to jump to the floor. "Thanks, mom."

She returned the hug. "Aw, my baby..."

From the living room, Diana shouted, "I thought _I_ was your baby!"

Flip's mother laughed, and the two stopped embracing. "Now, Flip, if you're going to be a trainer, you'd better at least be a good one! I expect no less than champion or you're going straight back to school, got it?" She smiled jokingly.

Flip laughed in response. "Okay. Don't worry, mom. Beating the champion should only take a week, maybe two, right?"

She smiled. "That's my boy!" The two laughed together.

Flip picked up his backpack and quickly put his arms under the straps. "I'll see you later, mom." He opened the door and stepped outside, Dratini and Pichu scrambling along beside him.

"Good luck, Philip," she returned, watching him step outside. She wiped away the tear that had been resting at the corner of her eye.

Cascata was sitting on the front steps, waiting for him. She began standing up as soon as the door opened. "So, are you ready to battle, Flip?"

"I guess so, but..." He started descending the stone steps that led to the path between the wildflowers. "...who am I fighting?"

She looked at him surprised. "You don't know?"

"You never said."

She laughed. "Isn't it obvious?"

Flip looked confused. "No."

The girl started walking down the path. "You'll be fighting me, silly. Who else is there?"

Flip suddenly froze. "Y... you?"

"Yes, me. You will be fighting me. That's what I just said." She laughed. "Why, is there something wrong with that?"

"No, nothing," he lied, while a tight knot began forming in his stomach. He didn't have the heart or the guts to battle her, especially since he was still occupied with sorting out his feelings for her.

They reached the end of the path. "We should have plenty of room right here in the forest. Two Pokémon each, obviously, since..." She had begun turning around when she saw Flip's face. "Flip, what's wrong?"

He had not noticed how pale his face had turned. "I... well... I don't..."

"...want to battle me?" she said, looking sad. "Why not?"

"I'm sorry, I don't want to battle a friend."

Cascata smiled and laughed again. "Oh, is that all? Listen, there's a big difference between a battle between friends and a battle between rivals. This is mostly for practice. And to make sure you can handle the stress of a battle." Her cheeks turned red as she rubbed the back of her head "In fact, to tell the truth, I was planning on letting you win regardless of whether you actually could or not."

The color returned to his face. "Really?"

She continued walking. "Well, yeah. I'd be kind of a jerk to help you become a trainer and then at the last moment crush your hopes, right?" She stopped again. "But I don't think I'll win anyway. This is my first real battle, too, to tell the truth. I'm so excited!"

Flip had relaxed a great deal, but the knot in his stomach was still there. He had trouble believing what he was hearing: Cascata wanted to battle him. He hadn't thought that trainers enjoy battling everybody, and not just their enemies. It made sense to him, though. You could battle a friend at any time and not stir up any negative emotions. He had never considered such things before.

"So, you don't want to be rivals either?"

"Huh?" He snapped out of thought quickly. "No, not at all!"

"Great!" She looked relieved. "I don't have any rivals yet, but I don't have any friends who are trainers. You're a nice person, Flip. A little odd, but still nice. I don't want you as a rival."

The knot finally loosened. A smile returned to Flip's face.

"So, anyway, like I was saying, we should use two Pokémon each since that's all we have. Makes sense, right?" Cascata pulled two pokéballs from her pocket and turned to face him again.

"Sure. You choose first," he said, walking away from her. He stopped and turned around. "Think this'll be enough room for a battlefield?"

"More than enough. We're both using low-level, unevolved Pokémon, right? We don't need a large area." She kept one in her left hand and flung the other onto the battlefield with her right. "Go! Cira!"

In a burst of light, a small Pidgey fluttered onto the battlefield and spread its wings in some failed attempt at intimidation. "Purdgey!" it cooed.

Flip had to hold back laughter. "Too easy! Go, Pichu!"

The little rodent scurried from his side and onto the battlefield. The hair raised on its tail and back and it bared its tiny fangs "Pichau!" it said as fiercely as he could, though it still sounded rather cute.

"Tackle it, Cira!" Cascata cried. The little bird began lifting itself into the air to dive on the mouse.

Flip shook his head. "Not a chance. Use your Charm, Pichu!"

The Pichu switched from its battle pose to acting its most adorable, with enormous sparkling eyes and the happiest smile one could ever imagine. This caught the Pidgey completely offguard and it screwed up its dive, only managing to nick the mouse in the ear with a talon. The Pichu's eyes narrowed and it reverted to a fighting stance once more.

"That's it, Pichu! Now, Thundershock that bird!" Flip said, cheering his Pokémon on.

The Pichu willingly listened, and squeezed its cheeks. Electricity poured out and into the opponent's body, but it still managed to fly around.

"We can still win this. Sand Attack, Cira!" Cascata yelled out.

The bird lowered itself near the ground and began kicking sand into the Pichu's eyes. The Pichu was angered by this, and, without any command from its trainer, it fired a much larger bolt of energy at the bird. The Pidgey collapsed with a flop.

"C-cira!" Cascata said, surprised. "Come back!" She held out the pokéball, and Cira was surrounded in red light. Almost instantly her body seemed to vanish in the energy, which was then sucked back into the pokéball.

Flip rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, sorry. I think Pichu went a little overboard with the electricity there. Will Cira be alright?"

"Oh, don't worry. She'll be fine. Pokémon are made to fighting like this. But, wow. I was right. I don't need to let you win." Cascata shook her head and repocketed the pokéball. "Still, this next one won't be so easy. Go, Wade! Start with Tail Whip!" she cried, flinging her second pokéball onto the field.

It burst open to reveal an eager-looking Squirtle who hopped up and down twice and then spun around on its shell before standing back up in its own battle pose. "Squirtle Squirt!" he cried in a voice that almost sounded like a laugh.

"Still too easy. Thudershock, Pichu!" Flip shouted.

The Pichu launched the attack at the Squirtle, but this was easy for the turtle to dodge due to the sand that had been kicked in Pichu's eyes. It leaped to the side of the Pichu and used its tail to flip the mouse onto its back. "_Chu!_" the Pichu cried, more out of surprise than pain.

"Shoot!" Flip could easily see that the Pichu was now in a much more vulnerable position and wouldn't be able to recover its stance before the Squirtle's next attack. "Use your Charm again, Pichu!"

"Ignore the Charm, Wade! Tackle it!" Cascata cried, smiling brightly. She could see her Squirtle's advantage as well.

The Pichu did its best to look adorable once more, but Wade the Squirtle was too close for it to have enough time. The mouse was slammed into the dirt. This had been a much more powerful blow than the one from Cira's talon. The mouse rose to its feet, but its paws quivered and its legs looked like they would give out at any moment.

"Alright, Pichu, return!" Flip said, recalling the rodent to its pokéball. "Your turn, Dratini!"

The little dragon leapt eagerly onto the battlefield, shouting, "Tini tini dratini!" It seemed to be doing a much better job at intimidation than the others; in fact, Flip could swear he saw the Squirtle shiver.

Cascata gulped. "Wade use... uh... use your Tackle again!"

"Leer, Dratini!" Flip called out.

The Dragon narrowed its eyes at the turtle Pokémon, and this time Flip was sure he saw the Squirtle start to shake. Wade leapt at Dratini, and the Dratini was pushed into the dirt like Pichu had been. However, the Dratini was much better off than the electric rodent after the attack.

"Great, Dratini! Now, Wrap it!" Flip yelled to his Pokémon. He was getting excited since he was almost certain he was going to win now. Now he was beginning to understand why Cascata was so eager to battle.

"Tackle it again! Harder!" Cascata cried, but she was too late.

The serpent had already coiled around the Squirtle. For a bit, the two stayed still, with the Dratini slowly increasing the tightness of its coils around the opponent's shell and neck. Finally, it released a very dazed looking Squirtle, who stumbled around a bit before falling over.

"Wade, return!" Cascata shouted, and the pokéball sucked the Squirtle back in. She sighed. "That's that, I guess. You beat me fair and square, and now we go get you registered as a trainer."

Dratini beamed victoriously.

* * *

The sun had already begun setting again by the time Flip and Cascata set off for Pewter City. Dratini was sitting on Flip's shoulder again, but the rest of the Pokémon were in their pokéballs.

"Goodbye, Flip!" Flip's mother called out, waving. "Take good care of yourself! Call me everyday! And be careful! I love you!"

"Bye, Flip!" Diana said, waving as well. "Don't forget to write! And bring me back a present!"

Flip stopped and waved back. "Bye, mom! Bye, Diana!" He smiled, taking one last look at them, then continued walking.

"So!" Cascata started. "We should make it to the Pewter City Pokécenter by nightfall, and we can get you registered there, too, but we won't be able to do that until morning. Is that alright?"

Flip grinned at her. "Sounds great! You know, I still can't believe I'm doing this. It's like... I dunno, like this whole weekend has just been a long, strange dream."

"Mmm-hmm," Cascata said. "I think all trainers feel like that when they're first starting. Usually it's not just a weekend, but, well, you know."

For a while the two walked in silence. The sky was now a great variety of colors, from a bright reddish-orange to the deep indigo color of the night. The distant cries of various Pokémon could be heard every now and then. It was a very peaceful evening.

"Say, Cascata..." Flip began saying.

"Yes?"

He stopped and looked up at the sky as if to collect his thoughts. "Are we only going to travel together until Pewter City?"

She stopped beside him. "What do you mean?"

"I've heard that some trainers will travel in groups and help each other out. Since we're both just starting, maybe we could travel together as well? At the very least, until we get past Mount Moon. I've heard that it's not a good place to be running around in alone. If you want, we could stick together even longer than that." He looked back at her. "Well? What do you think?"

She smiled at him. "I think that that's a great idea. Sure." She began walking again. Flip paused for a little bit longer, pumping his arm once victoriously when he knew she couldn't see, then continued following.

"Flip?"

"Hmm?"

Cascata looked up towards the sky. "Where do you think we'll go after Mount Moon?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Cerulean City. Where else _is_ there to go?"

"No, no. _After_ that."

"Well, there's several directions one could go in, but Saffron is the closest-"

Cascata groaned in frustration. "In life. Where do you want to go in life?"

"_Oh,_" he said, nodding once. "Do you promise not to laugh?"

"Of course!"

He smirked. "I think with enough time and practice, I could take the champion on..."

She looked impressed. "Really?"

He sighed. "It's just a dream, though."

Cascata shook her head. "Don't say that! Everything starts with a dream."

"Well, what about you? Do you have any dreams?"

She stopped, and he soon stopped as well. She looked very sad. "To be honest? No, I don't."

Flip was confused. "None at all?"

"None. I was hoping that maybe if I traveled for a while, I would find one..."

There was a long silence between them. It didn't take Flip to give in, however, and he gave her a hug to comfort her.

Cascata quietly said, "I'm sorry to make you worry. You're so nice. Thank you."

Then, he let go of her and exclaimed in worry, "Oh, no! I just remembered!"

She perked up again. "What is it? Did you leave something behind?"

"No, it's not that. It's worse." He slowly held up a pokéball. "I called Pichu back when he was injured, remember? I never let him out again!"

Cascata stopped for a moment, then ran a few feet ahead. "My sympathies to you, Flip!" she said, turning back around.

He braced himself for the second time that day and opened the pokéball. This time, the shock came. Cascata, despite the distance she had placed between Flip and herself, still had to jump back to avoid the electricity. Once the light show had ended, Flip fell to the ground with the Pichu sitting on his head looking very angry.

"Y'know, I think I just thought of a name for my Pichu," Flip said.

"Oh?"

"...Hazard."


	2. Chapter 2 Legends and Mysteries

Dreamers  
Chapter 2  
Legends and Mysteries

The morning light had eventually made its way through the Pokécenter window, though it was faint and unable to create distinguishable shadows due to being far more muffled than it had been the day before. Dark gray clouds had gathered together over the skies of northern Kanto as if to try and make up for their recent absence. Rain was starting to fall on the buildings below and seemed to hint at more to come. All color and life seemed to be completely taken over by the bleak sky above.

Still, there was something undeniably peaceful about the sound of raindrops on the roof, the first thing any person would hear when they awoke.

Cascata sat up on the edge of the bed and stretched once before taking a look out the window. "Rain," she murmured to herself, despite the fact that the weather was very obvious. A small sigh escaped her lips. "I hope it won't slow us down. Going through Mount Moon takes a long time."

Cascata hopped onto the floor and looked at Flip. He was still sleeping, curled up beneath the covers and looking very cold. Dratini was coiled up beside him. She shook her head. "If he sleeps in again..."

* * *

"Good morning, Nurse Joy!" Cascata said in a cheerful voice as she entered the lobby of the Pokécenter. 

The Nurse Joy looked up from behind the counter where she was typing something on the computer. "Oh! Good morning... Cassandra, was it?"

She did her best to not break her smile. "Uh, Cascata. Close, though!"

The Joy laughed. "Right, Cascata. I remember now. Sorry about that."

"No, it's all right." Cascata looked outside again. "Say, Nurse Joy, do you know how difficult it would be to travel on Mount Moon in this weather? I was hoping that after going to the museum, I could still have time to go through Mount Moon and make it to Cerulean city before-"

"Cascata, this better be some sort of joke!" Nurse Joy had stopped working on the computer and was now glaring at the little girl seriously. "Mount Moon is dangerous to travel on in the rain! With all the mining people do to find Moon Stones and fossils there, even a slight drizzle can loosen up the rocks and stones and cause dangerous mudslides. Haven't you heard the stories? One trainer almost got killed because he slipped while trying to walk on a steep part of it! And another one had her leg get trapped beneath a boulder! Even if you were insane enough to try and travel through it, it's almost certain that they've closed all routes off for trainers in a storm like this."

"Eep! Sorry!" she said, lowering her head. "I didn't know, really! I hadn't even thought about anything like that. I'm sorry."

Joy sighed and returned to typing on the computer. "You shouldn't be apologizing to me. You should be apologizing to yourself. Anyway, Diglett's Cave should be fairly safe to travel in, but that doesn't go to Cerulean City. You probably want to challenge the gym leader there, right?"

Cascata nodded. "I suppose it's what a lot of trainers do, then?"

"You have no idea. Almost all trainers used to come here first and then head through Mount Moon to Cerulean. However, you probably already know that we've been without a gym leader for a while. Fewer and fewer trainers are coming each day. Did you notice that there were almost no other trainers were staying here last night besides you and your friend?"

Cascata thought back. "Yeah. In fact, I think there was only one other person. So, there's no new gym leader yet? That's a shame."

The Nurse Joy sighed. "There may not be a new one for a while. The last one's been here for a _long_ time. Ever since he quit, nobody knows what to do. I think some local trainers were thinking about holding a competition for a new one, but so far there's no solution in sight." She shook her head and laughed off the sad expression which had crossed her face. "Before I forget, that friend of yours... Flip, he said his name was? Well, the forms he filled out have all been processed. His Pokédex is being teleported here as we speak. You might want to wake him up."

"Oh, sure!" she responded, and quickly turned around and went back into the room with all the beds for trainers. It looked different now since what she had been told made her notice just how many beds were empty in the room. The pattern of the perfectly lined up beds with flawlessly tucked in sheets was broken near the end by her own bed, which a Chansey was already working on smoothing out like the others, and the one which still had Flip curled up in it. He hadn't moved an inch.

She shook him gently. "Wake up, Flip," she said softly. He made little response. "Flip?" Still nothing. She shook him harder. "_Please_, Flip. Wake up."

He made a noise too soft to distinguish and shifted slightly so the blanket was covering him even more. The Chansey that was taking care of Cascata's bed, seeing the problem, turned around and lifted Flip up in one hand, slapping his back and forth across the face several times. It was now obvious he was awake, so the Chansey set him down gently on the bed again and quickly finished smoothing out the sheets. It smiled at Cascata and said, "Chansey!" before skipping out, leaving the two in a shocked state.

"Sorry," Cascata apologized, breaking the silence. "I don't know _why_ it did that. I never knew Chanseys could be... so..."

"It's not your fault, Cass," he said, rubbing his cheek. "I don't know why it did that either. Anyway, why did you wake me up? Are we leaving soon or something?"

"No. In fact, we can't leave Pewter City. Nurse Joy said it's too dangerous to travel on Mount Moon in the rain." She looked out the window again. The weather was already starting to get worse. "But your Pokédex is going to be ready very soon. Besides, we can still go to see the museum, right?"

"Oh, sure! Let me go get dressed and I'll meet you in the lobby," he said, standing up off his bed. Cascata nodded, and left the same way she had entered. Flip paused for a moment, listening to the rain slowly increase in intensity. He sighed and started gathering clean clothes from his backpack.

* * *

Nurse Joy smiled in her usual cheery manner. "Flip, allow me to present you with your Pokédex. You are now officially acknowledged as a trainer by the Pokémon League. This is the beginning of your Pokémon journey! Good luck!" With that, she held out a black Pokédex. In the corner, there were five numbers in gold that glinted in the sun; his ID number. 

He looked surprised as he took it in his hand. "Black and gold...?"

Cascata quickly took this opportunity to explain. "Every time they come out with a new edition of the Pokédex, they come up with a new design. For the past few years, they've been using this one. It comes in black and white. The black one has gold for the ID number and buttons, and the white one has silver." She pulled out her own. It was identical to his, except the colors were different; it was, just as she said, white and silver instead. She flipped it open to show the many buttons, all silver.

"Interesting," he said to himself, looking at the inside of his. "That's an interesting coincidence."

"What do you mean?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yeah, Flip, what is it?" Cascata said.

He laughed. "Haven't you noticed? Pretty much all of my things are black, gold, or both. They're my favorite colors."

Cascata laughed as well. The Joy just smiled, saying, "Yes, well, I suppose that was a stroke of good luck, wasn't it? Anyway, if you two want to go to the museum, I would suggest you head over there right now. It's a popular place for elementary school kids to have field trips, and most tend to arrive within the next hour or so. So, if you leave right now, you should be able to see the more popular exhibits before it gets very crowded."

Flip and Cascata looked at one another and nodded. "Thanks for telling us, Nurse Joy. We'll get going right now," Flip said, and the two started walking out.

At the door, however, another trainer was walking in, wearing a purple coat like a cloak and with a large Charizard behind her. Flip and Cascata had not turned around yet, and Flip accidentally collided into this person and fell to the floor.

"Hey! Watch it!" the trainer growled in an obviously female voice. They could see the person glaring at them with half-open eyes, and a lock of dark brown hair had fallen from the safety of her hood. She seemed to have a rather broad and buxom figure compared most girls one would meet, and she was tall as well, particularly compared to the young trainers Flip and Cascata. She and her Charizard both had something very intimidating about them as they stared angrily at the blond-haired boy.

"Sorry," Flip said, standing up and rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't see you there. And I don't think you were paying attention to where you were going either..."

She snorted, looking down at him with distaste. "Well, don't let it happen again, twerp." The Charizard snorted as well, and two small rings of smoke came from its nostrils.

Flip looked stunned for a moment at the fierce tone of her voice, but forced himself to walk away from her and towards his goal of the Pokécenter door. Cascata bent over and whispered in his ear, "Sheesh, what's with that girl? I only just met her, and I think I already don't like her."

The trainer watched the two leave and did not turn around until they were well out of sight. She then turned to face Nurse Joy, who was working on the computer again. A Chansey had started cleaning off the counter.

A mischievous grin crossed the trainer's face. "Hello, Nurse Joy!" she said in a much friendlier voice than she had used with Flip. "Awful weather, isn't it?"

Nurse Joy did not look up. She had not noticed the scene between the trainers. "Oh, yes, horrible! But I hear it's going to be nice again tomorrow. Lots of sun."

The trainer walked up to the counter and leaned on it, pushing the Chansey aside. "Really? That's good to hear," she said, reaching into her pocket.

The Nurse Joy typed a little bit more, than turned to face the newcomer. "So, how can I help you? A standard healing of your team, I presume?" She was still smiling.

"Oh, no, actually. I came to pick up some Pokémon," the girl said. Her hand tightened around something.

"Really? I don't recognize you. Well, I _have_ been a bit forgetful lately. If you'll just give me your name, identification, and the name of the Pokémon you left here, I'll be happy to go and get it for you."

The girl laughed. "Oh, it's not _my_ Pokémon I'm here for."

Joy looked surprised. "Oh, is it a friend's? Well, I'll need their identification number, then, because-"

"You don't understand," she said, still cheerfully, and in one move she pulled out a gun and pointed it at the nurse. "I'm here to pick up all the Pokémon."

Nurse Joy screamed.

The Chansey, trained for situations like this, dropped its cleaning cloth and dove to knock the gun out of the girl's hand. However, it was stopped in midair by the large Charizard, who threw it against the wall. The lizard breathed a circle of flame which surrounded the normal type Pokémon. Every time the Chansey tried to move it got a nasty burn, so eventually it had no choice but to sit and watch the events unfold through tear-filled eyes.

The girl grinned a big, terrifying smile. "Your little Chansey can't hurt me. My Charizard is more than strong enough to take them all down."

"Please! This is a place of peace where the sick and injured are treated! We want no trouble!"

Her grin broadened a little. "Oh, is that so? Well, then, just hand over all the Pokémon and I'll be on my way. No trouble at all."

"No!" the Joy responded, digging up all the bravery she could. "I can't let you!"

The trainer's smile dropped and she sighed. "Your choice."

Her finger tightened on the trigger. There was a flash. Nurse Joy dropped to the ground.

She was only ducking down in fear. The bullet had only been meant to frighten the nurse, so it missed her by a wide margin.

Still, it was hard to draw relief from this fact considering that there was still a girl robbing the Pokécenter with a loaded gun she was not afraid to fire. She stayed as still as possible on the floor as the trainer walked past the desk and towards the room where Pokémon were stored.

* * *

Flip looked into the display case. The room was dark, so the only illumination came from inside the tank itself. There was a variety of strange artifacts from an ancient city inside, and each had hieroglyphics he had never seen before engraved into their surface. If he looked at them carefully, they almost resembled different Pokémon. 

"Come on, Flip, let's take a look at the fossils!" Cascata said, looking over her shoulder to the entrance to the next room. She could see a big sign for the newest exhibit. "I really want to see the 'Moon Dragon' fossils before it starts getting crowded."

He looked up. "Well, I'd like to look at these a while longer, but I guess-"

She lowered her head. "Oh, sorry! No, take all the time you want. Sorry."

Flip smiled and shook his head. "What on earth are you talking about? You convince me to go and you immediately say we don't have to." He began walking towards the fossils. "Come on, Cassie." She scurried to catch up with him.

The fossils were many different varieties, with some very nice ones of Kabuto and Omanyte which apparently had been found in Mount Moon itself. Not too far of it were the evolutions of the two, though a long crack split the Kabutops fossil in half. There were ones of Lileep and Anorith from the Hoenn region on the opposite side of the room, and a skeleton of an Aerodactyl hung from the ceiling above them in a pose that suggested it was about to attack them with its sharp teeth. There were many other fossils, most of which were much harder to identify, but the main focus of the large room was the entrance to another.

This was where all the signs had been pointing, and there was a banner across the large doorway with the words "MOON DRAGONS" written in large letters. There was a large crowd inside it, with many more people entering than leaving. Flip and Cascata were able to weave through the people and stand behind a class of small children who were having their guide talk to them about the first fossil, which was of some sort of lizard like creature about the same size as a Charmander.

"...though fossils of the Vapdrageen have also been found in other places, such as the Lunar Bay area. As you can see, it was small, no bigger than some unevolved Pokémon you could find today. If you'll notice to the left of it, there is a model of what we believe the Vapdrageen looked like." the guide said, while the children pressed their hands and faces against the glass that separated them from the exhibit.

The model which had just been mentioned was the exact same size as the fossil itself, and even in the same pose; slightly curled up with the tail curving in the opposite direction as if to form an S shape. It had very large, snake-like eyes, and its ears, fingers, and toes were all webbed. The model, however, had no color, and thus its eyes, skin, and claws were all the same shade of gray as the stone which the fossil was in.

"Now then," the guide said, doing his best to move all the children towards the next fossil, still unaware of Flip and Cascata following and listening as well, "if you'll come over here, you'll be able to see the Vapdrageen's evolution, Vapdragoon. These tend to be found near places like Evolution Mountain or where there are a surplus of Water Stones, and so, logically, it is believed Vapdrageen evolved into Vapdragoon when it came into contact with a Water Stone. You may notice that the wings on its back are rather strangely shaped. Anyone care to guess why?"

The kids thought hard. They studied the model of the Vapdragoon carefully; it looked like a very large Vapdrageen in many ways, but the main difference was the appearance of the two large wings sprouting from its arms. A little boy raised his hand. "They're not coming from the back! Dragon wings usually come from the back!"

The guide smiled. "Yes, good observation! Unlike most other dragons, the Vapdragoon's wings come from the arms in the same manner as a bat's wings would. Now, here's the tricky part: can you figure out why?"

The kids all looked very thoughtful, and Cascata and Flip started thinking hard as well. Then, Cascata said, "I can't picture this creature flying."

The guide looked surprised. "Who are you? You're not in this class, are you?"

Cascata's face turned red. "Oh, no, sorry! My friend and I were just following along."

The guide laughed. "Oh, that's fine. I was just going to say, you looked a little old to be third graders. Anyway, yes, the wings are large, but it'd be impossible for the Vapdragoon to do much more than hover off the ground with them. They were not meant for flying!"

The children looked confused. "But if the wings weren't for flying, what were they for?" one asked.

The guide smiled. "That's the same question many scientists themselves have asked for a long time. Almost all have agreed that the main use for them would have been for it to swim more quickly in the water, since that is where most of them lived and hunted. We may never know if this is the real answer or not. Now, then, let's move on to the newest fossil found in Mount Moon, the very heart of the Moon Dragons exhibit."

He led them all towards the most crowded part of the enormous room, from which a giant fossil rose towards the ceiling. It was a skeleton like the others, but at least three times taller than any of the humans staring at it. The two arms were spread to either side of it, and the wing bones coming off it showed a wingspan at least as long as it was tall if not more so. Above them was a second set of wings, though these were smaller than the first pair. The webbed ears seem to encircle its face like a halo.

"Now, then, there is no information on this Pokémon whatsoever. This is the first of its kind ever found, and there are no ancient records of it as there were for Vapdrageen and Vapdragoon. Since it was found in Mount Moon, we have begun calling it Lunadrago, the Moon Dragon, and we are eagerly searching for another fossil of this magnificent creature," the guide recited from memory.

The children looked up wide-eyed. A few 'ooh's and 'aah's came from them as they tried to imagine what an incredible skeleton would look like with flesh on it.

Flip's stomach growled. "Hey, Cascata, after we finish looking around at this exhibit, want to go grab lunch?"

She turned, surprised. "You sure? We won't be able to get back in without paying."

He smiled. "Well, it's not expensive. We can see the rest some other time."

Cascata nodded. She looked back at the fossil again. "It's hard to believe a creature like that could have really existed..."

* * *

A girl with pink hair tied up in a large white bow was looking at a display of moon stones. She smiled as she moved her head back and forth just to watch the way the colors on its surface changed ever so slightly in the light. Behind her, a teacher was talking about some other evolution stones to her class of small children, probably only in first or second grade. 

"Now, the one with a lightning bolt on it is a Thunder Stone. Do any of you remember what Pokémon evolves with a Thunder Stone?" she asked.

"Pikachu!" several of them called out at once.

"Good! Any others?"

There was silence for a moment. "Oh! Eevee!" a girl shouted suddenly.

"Good! Remember, Eevee can not only evolve with a Thunder Stone, but also with a Fire Stone or Water Stone, or even with no stone at all. Now... yes, what is it?"

A boy in back looked confused. "Why can Eevee evolve with so many?"

"Well, Eevee's genetic-"

The teacher was cut off by a loud crash as a hole was created in the wall and rain began pouring through. Several of the children began to scream. A girl wearing a purple jacket was illuminated by the light emitted from the tail flame of the large Charizard behind her. She twirled a gun in her hand in an almost playful manner.

"Sorry to interrupt your lesson, kiddies, but I'll be taking those stones," she said, and she fired the gun at the glass case which shattered the moment the bullet hit it. The children that had not started crying in fear before were crying now. The teacher was wide-eyed.

"Everyone! Get out of here!" she yelled pointing towards the door. "Run! Now!" The children did not hesitate to comply, and the teacher was right behind them.

The girl with the gun laughed loudly. "Yes, go! Get out of my way you little pests!" She walked up to the shattered case and began picking the evolution stones from the glass. Then she turned to notice the pink-haired girl, who was frozen with fear. "Charizard," she said, glancing quickly at her Pokémon.

The fire-type must have known what she meant, for he walked straight up to the other girl and grabbed her arms from behind. "Zarrrd..." he growled.

"You... why do you..." she started to say.

"Shut up, you little twit. You're a trainer, aren't you?" She walked up until the two were face to face. "Well, I'll just be taking your Pokémon, then."

The pink-haired girl didn't respond to this. "...why do you look like Keria?"

The dark-haired girl jumped. "You know who I... oh, this is bad."

The captive started to struggle in an attempt to break free from the Charizard without success. "I won't you get away with this!"

The thief sighed. "Consider yourself lucky that I'm only taking you hostage, girl." She pulled out a rope and began tying her up while the Charizard held her as still as possible.

"You can't do this! It's bad enough you're stealing, but-mrphmhmrphrm..." Her words were cut off as a gag was stuck in her mouth.

"Next time, when I say shut up, just shut up. Got it?" she said, and finished tying a knot. She redirected her attention to the case holding the moon stones. A smile returned to her face, and she smashed this glass as well.

* * *

Flip was blushing. Since it was raining and he had not remembered an umbrella, Cascata had offered to share hers. The result was that the two were walking very close together. He had to make an effort to not touch her. It was an incredibly awkward situation for him. 

Cascata didn't seem to mind at all. "So, where should we go to eat?" she asked. He didn't respond.

The two were just walking around Pewter City. Very few other people were outside besides them.

"Hey, look," she said, leaning over and whispering in his ear. "You see over there?"

Flip turned his head. There was a large building set apart from the others with thick stone walls that rain was pounding on furiously. A "Closed" sign hung on the door. He knew what it was instantly. "That's the Pewter City gym, isn't it? What about it?"

"No, not that!" she responded. "Look, standing in front of it. Isn't that the trainer from before?"

His eyes moved from the building itself to the trainer in front. It was easy for him to recognize the girl: even if the purple coat had not told him, the large Charizard standing beside her was enough to jog his memory. For a fire type, the Charizard did not seem to mind the rain nearly as much as it should have. The girl was staring at the building in silence.

Flip and Cascata walked up to her. "Hey-"

"How long has the gym leader been gone?" she asked, cutting Flip off. Her tone of voice was completely different. It was very steady and calm, though there was almost a hint of sadness to it.

"Uh..." Cascata counted in her head. "Five months. Maybe six. I can't remember."

There was silence for a moment. "Really? That long?" The girl started laughing in an almost sarcastic way.

"Yeah. Why?" Cascata asked, confused.

She did her best to stop laughing. "Four years."

Flip and Cascata exchanged a puzzled glance.

"I've been training four years," she continued, still laughing. "Four years..." Her laugher stopped and she slammed her fist against the stone wall.

"...for absolutely nothing." The hint of sadness in her voice had been replaced with one of anger.

A rumble of thunder could be heard from overhead. It began raining harder. The Charizard snorted unhappily at this.

She shook her head. "Figures. So, who are you?" she asked. Her voice had become calm again.

"I'm Cascata, and this is Flip," Cascata said in a less cheerful tone than usual, probably dampened by the rain and the mood this person had created.

Flip frowned. "Yeah, the 'twerp' you snapped at this morning."

The trainer looked at them. Something seemed to have changed about her eyes since they last met: though they were still half-open, they did not make her look like she was angry at them at all. "I beg your pardon?" she spoke, cocking her head slightly to one side.

"You know, this morning, in the Pokécenter," he said. "You snapped at me after I bumped into you, even though I apologized."

She had a puzzled expression on her face. "What? I haven't visited the Pokécenter yet. I just flew into town on Brenner, my Charizard. It's the first time I've been to Kanto... since..." She turned away and looked sad for a moment.

"I don't get it," Cascata said. "The person looked a lot like you. She had a Charizard with her and everything."

Flip studied the girl's face carefully. "Actually, now that I look closely, I don't think you were the one I ran into at the Pokécenter. I'm not sure if you are, at least." He shrugged. "Could've just been a weird coincidence, I guess. Or you have a doppelganger or something."

She smiled and looked back up at them. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Flip, Cascata. My name is Keria."

Cascata's eyebrows jumped up immediately. She questioned, "Keria? You mean _the_ Keria? The prodigy who-"

She was cut off by the sound of sirens. They all turned to see Officer Jenny on her motorcycle followed by many police cars. "Wonder what's going on. Things are usually peaceful in the Kanto region these days." Keria said to herself.

"There she is!" Jenny said, and she screeched to a halt in front of the three and leapt off the motorcycle. "You're under arrest, thief!" she said to Keria, grabbing one of her wrists and handcuffing it.

The trainer was confused. "What? What's going on? What did I do?" she said, as her other hand was handcuffed as well.

Jenny scowled at her while the police cars surrounded the four of them. "Oh, don't even _try_ playing dumb! We have witnesses who saw you rob the Pokécenter and the museum while armed with a gun!"

Cascata cut in. "Are you sure it was her, Officer Jenny? We had-"

She didn't listen. "Sure! How many girls are running around in purple coats with big Charizards around here! Come on, let's go! You have the right to remain silent..." she trailed off, tugging her off into one of the police cars as she read the trainer her Miranda rights. Some other officers were doing the same to the Charizard, who was looking just as confused as its trainer.

"Actually, Officer-" Flip started, but the police completely ignored them. A minute later, they could see the cars driving away, sirens still blaring. The two trainers sat shocked and confused in the rain.

"...there might be two," Flip finished, still standing under the umbrella.

The rain continued to pound. Flip and Cascata exchanged another puzzled glance. They both broke into a run towards the police station.

* * *

When they got to the police station, Keria was already behind bars, and so was her Charizard. Officer Jenny was looking extremely angry. 

"This is your 'team', right? Then explain how all four of these were among the Pokémon stolen from the Pokécenter. And you don't have a Pokédex on you. That's too large of a coincidence for me to believe!" Jenny snapped, holding up four Pokéballs.

Keria sighed. "Okay. First off, if you would actually let them out, you would note that they respond to the names Sandy, Redda, Montague, and Nentes, respectively, and the ones that were stolen do not. Not to mention I can almost guarantee that they're much stronger than the ones that were stolen from the Pokécenter. Second, I just told you, I _lost_ my Pokédex. I lose a lot of things. I flew in on Brenner from the north, so it probably fell around there, and if you-"

Jenny cut her off. "How dumb do you think we are? You 'lost' it. Right. And you want us to let you out so you can go find it in the woods to the north." She took a sip of coffee. "Save it for the trial, kid."

Keria frowned. "But I can't _wait_ that long-" she started, but it was then that she noticed the two trainers enter. "Oh! You're... Flip and Cascata, was it?"

Cascata nodded. "Officer Jenny, we think Keria is innocent-"

Officer Jenny spat out her drink in surprise. "_Keria!_ You mean the prodigy!" She looked at the trainer. "I knew she looked familiar! Disgusting." She turned away in anger. "Absolutely disgusting. Something's wrong with this world when someone with so much going for them can just throw it all away and become a rotten criminal. I'm calling your parents right now." With that, she stood up and started walking away.

"No! Wait!" Keria looked scared. She grabbed the bars and pushed her head out, calling after the police officer. "Don't! I'm innocent! Don't tell them... that..." Jenny was already gone. She slumped back into the corner of her cell. "This won't end well."

"She didn't even listen to us." Cascata said, pouting.

"She's really stressed." Keria said, rolling her eyes. "Perfectly understandable considering her job, I suppose. She should do something about it, though. It interferes with the clarity of one's thinking."

Flip turned towards Keria. "Why are you so calm? Aren't you worried?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I am. I'm always worried. Just not about things like this. Though this will take _far_ too long to work itself out, which is very annoying." She crossed one leg over the other. "I can wait, I guess. But-"

"Maybe we could help you out," Flip said, turning back towards the door. "Where did you say your Pokédex was?"

"The woods to the north." she said, opening one eye. "You're gonna try and find it, I assume?"

"That's the idea." Flip said. "C'mon, Cassie."

Keria smirked as the two went back into the rain. "You don't have to, but... thanks." She stared at the ceiling. "I just hope this clears up _before_ my parents kill me."

* * *

"Who is this Keria, anyway?" Flip asked. The woods were becoming very muddy from the rain mixing in with the leaf litter and other decaying organic matter. Still, it was somewhat more enjoyable than walking the streets, since the branches were creating a canopy that stopped some of the rain mid-fall. 

"Don't you remember?" Cascata asked. "She became a trainer four years ago. She was pretty much a genius. She knew more about Pokémon than some of the top trainers, including raising and battling them. Everyone called her a prodigy. There was even a news team that was devoted to covering her for a very short period of time."

He stopped. "Oh, I think I remember that, vaguely. What happened?"

"Oh, it was awful. She lost her first gym battle, which was at the Pewter City Gym. I think the leader used his normal team instead of the one that he uses against new trainers; you know, to give them a fighting chance. She was beaten in under a minute." Cascata shook her head. "She was completely devastated. She swore she would beat him and stormed out of the gym."

"Then that's what she meant when she said..." Flip looked thoughtful for a moment, then started walking again. "So?"

"So what?" Cascata responded.

"What happened to her then?"

"Oh! I dunno, really," Cascata said. "Everyone stopped caring. They figured that she wasn't the prodigy they had all made her out to be. The news team stopped reporting her every action. She vanished from the spotlight completely. In fact, this is the first I've heard about her since then. I guess she was serious when she swore to beat him." Cascata turned and gave a half-smile to Flip. "That doesn't really matter now, does it? She must have never heard about the gym leader leaving. Poor Keria. It's kind of odd, though, considering that she's from this region, and if she cared so much about beating him, you would think she would be the first to hear about it."

"Pichupi!" they heard. Hazard, who had been let out earlier, leapt out of the bushes with a black rectangle in its front teeth. It scrambled onto Flip's shoulder and dropped it into his hands. Flip opened it and pressed the appropriate button.

"_Bzzrt-Pokédex-bzzrt-two-one-two-bzzrt-name-of-bzzrt-if-lost-bzzrt-cannot-be-bzzrt!_" it struggled to say as static appeared on the screen.

Flip frowned. "Great. It's broken."

"Hang on," Cascata said, taking it from him. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a small screwdriver. "I think I can fix it." She turned it over and began taking out the screws.

Flip was stunned. "Say what? You mean..."

She smiled at him. "Oh, I'm just good with stuff like this. I've been a technology geek since I was little. I've fixed other stuff with bigger problems than this one! Hold the umbrella over me, would you?"

She slid off the back cover. He couldn't see what she was doing due to the lack of light. In a moment she decided she was done, and reattached the back of the Pokédex. "See? That's all it needed. Probably just hit a branch or something when it fell that knocked that connection loose." Cascata smiled and flipped open the Pokédex again.

"_Greetings!_" it chirped. "_What-would-you-like-for-me-to-do-Keria?_" Cascata pressed the same button Flip had, and a picture of Keria appeared on the screen. "_Trainer-identification-This-is-Pokédex-and-trainer's-license-for-trainer-five-two-one-two-seven-by-the-name-of-Keria-_" She closed it.

"That was impressive," Flip said, looking at Cascata. "I had no idea you were good with that sort of stuff."

"Oh, it was nothing. Come on, we have to show this to Officer Jenny!" she said, shoving the Pokédex in her pocket and turning back towards Pewter City.

* * *

Officer Jenny closed the Pokédex. "So, she was telling the truth." she said. 

Keria looked happy. "See? And you didn't believe me. Now, if you'll just let me out of here-"

Jenny turned back towards the trainer angrily. "What? Absolutely not, thief!"

"What do you mean?" Flip said. "You just said it yourself! The Pokédex proves she's innocent. Let her go!"

The officer slapped the Pokédex on her desk. "No! The Pokédex only proves that the four Pokémon on her team weren't stolen. That doesn't mean she didn't commit those robberies!" She began looking through some paperwork. "Trainers can be criminals just like everyone else. And there's currently no evidence that gives reasonable doubt that she _didn't_ commit them."

"But there is, Officer Jenny," Cascata said. "We were trying to tell you it the last time."

Officer Jenny didn't look up. "Oh, really? Let's hear it."

The girl looked back at Flip, who nodded and cleared his throat.

"Cascata and myself were at the Pokécenter for most of the morning. When we were leaving, we ran into a trainer that looked a lot like Keria," he said, gesturing to the locked up trainer, "but was not actually her."

This caught Jenny's attention. "Go on," she said, studying all three of the trainers carefully.

"The similarities were remarkable," he said, turning towards Keria. "Brown eyes, brown hair, purple coat, dark blue pants, even similar height and body type. And, of course, the Charizard. But after getting a good look at both and talking with both, I know that it was definitely not Keria who I met. And the crime would've had to have taken place right after we left, because it certainly didn't happen while we were there, and the person wouldn't have had the time to rob the museum afterwards."

Jenny took another sip of coffee. "Are you suggesting she was framed?"

Flip stopped. "Actually, I hadn't thought of that. I thought it was only a coincidence, but that would make a lot more sense." He looked downwards. "But that would mean the person would have had to have known Keria was coming to Pewter City, not to mention at what specific time she would be here. Trainers always head to the Pokécenter first, so she had to rob it before Keria came here." Flip shook his head. "So it was either a very large coincidence, or this thief is very smart."

The officer took a sip of her coffee. "Or you're giving a false testimony. There's a lot of concrete evidence against Keria right now, and your story is very shakey. There's not even any proof you were at the Pokécenter this morning." She glared at Flip. "And why would you go out of your way to help this girl, anyway? Are you just supposed to be some sort of nice guy?"

"If I may interrupt," Keria started, pressing against the bars of her cell, "you shouldn't criticize him for being a good citizen. Perhaps he is telling what he knows because he doesn't want to see an innocent go to jail, or perhaps because of the more obvious reason that if I'm in here, and I'm not the criminal-"

"Then the criminal is still out and probably still in the city."

"Exactly!" Keria said. "Wait, who said that?"

Everyone turned towards where the remark had come from. Nurse Joy was standing in the doorway.

"Nurse Joy, what are you doing here?" Officer Jenny began. "I already told you not to worry about the thief-"

"It's my _job_ to worry about those Pokémon, Officer Jenny," Joy said. "And I can tell you that they were certainly _not_ stolen by this trainer. I would have known right away if it was Keria. Even I can't seem to forget someone like her. She's... well... unique, I guess you could say."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Keria said, looking annoyed and amused at the same time.

"You're a smart girl, so I'm sure you can figure it out," Joy said, smiling for a moment before her expression turned serious again. "There were a lot of small differences, actually. The girl had slightly lighter skin, was a little taller, noticeably thinner-"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean!" Keria asked again, much more annoyed and not at all amused.

Joy ignored her this time. "Of course, the largest difference was the eyes. They were nothing like Keria's. Keria's eyes seem to droop in a very relaxed and natural way, like she's tired. But the other trainer's eyes seemed forced and half-squinting, more like a glare."

"You're certain about all this?" Jenny asked.

"I'm positive," Joy responded. "If you can't believe my testimony, whose can you believe?"

The phone rang, interrupting their conversation. Jenny quickly picked it up. "Pewter City Police Department, Officer Jenny speaking. ...what! You mean... right now! I'm on it!" She slammed it back down. "You guys were right! That criminal's still on the loose!"

Keria was first to respond. "_Now_ do you believe I'm innocent?"

"Yes, yes! However, until we catch the real criminal, you'll have to stay in there," Jenny said, heading straight towards the door.

"Wait!" Keria said. "She's got a Charizard with her, right? Maybe I could help you!" She looked at her Pokéballs. "I'm a very experienced Pokémon trainer. I could fight that Charizard a lot easier than any of you could! Please, let me come with you!"

Jenny paused a moment. "Fine, but you'd better not leave my sight!" She quickly turned around and unlocked the cell. "Now, grab your Pokéballs and let's go. There's no time!"

The two ran out the door. Cascata looked at Flip. "Come on, Flip! I don't wanna miss this!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door.

Joy looked in the direction all four had run sadly. "Be careful, all of you!"

* * *

The rain was pouring down in buckets now, creating a dull rumble from the inside of the gym. She tossed a bag of money from the Pokémart next to the rest of her loot. It bumped against the young trainer with pink hair, and for a moment it looked like she was going to wake up. However, the sleeping girl settled back down, and the thief laughed to herself. 

"The idiot police probably don't even know what hit 'em. I think we've pretty much finished in this city, don't you, Charizard?" she asked, turning towards the large lizard.

It let out a loud roar, and the girl immediately slapped it.

"Not so loud, moron. Someone might hear you."

It growled sadly.

She stepped up on one of the rocks of the battle field and posed on it. "Even if they figure out they've been duped and start searching the city for me, by the time they even think to check this old gym we'll be long gone. I am a perfect criminal! Haha!" Her voice echoed nearly as loudly as the Charizard's had before. She stood normally again and began looking thoughtful. "What to do with this girl, though? It'll be hard enough to carry all this stuff as it is..." She began pacing back and forth on the rocks. "Charizard wouldn't be able to carry her all the way back. I could just leave her here, but she might make trouble. Hrm..."

Charizard lifted its head suddenly. Its hearing was better than that of its human trainer, and thus it could hear sirens through the thick stone walls of the gym. "Chaaarizaaard!" it yelled, trying to warn its trainer.

"Shut up, you dumb lizard! I'm trying to think here!" she snapped again, then went back to thinking. "Maybe I could just abandon her on an island."

The Charizard started getting nervous. It began shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot and stretching its wings as if it wanted to fly. Smoke began drifting through its nostrils, and embers were starting to form at its mouth.

"Cut it out, Charizard. That's distracting," she yelled again, hitting the Charizard on top of the head.

It settled down again for a moment, but the sirens were getting too close for its liking. It began pumping its wings, and rose a few feet into the air before leaning forward and grabbing the stolen goods in its arms. It turned in midair and scooped up the thief on its neck, and began heading towards a weak point in the ceiling it knew it could break through. However, a sharp pain ran through its head, and it began plummeting. It slammed into the ground painfully, scattering the contents of its arms all over the floor. The girl got off it, almost completely unaffected by the fall, and slapped the large Pokémon across the face.

"Stupid Charizard!" she growled at it. "What's gotten into you, anyway! You're gonna get us caught!"

"You know, you really shouldn't treat your Pokémon like that," a voice echoed from the other side of the gym.

The thief froze in place as a mixed feeling of fear and self-loathing consumed her. She now knew what the Charizard had been trying to warn her about. She swiftly turned towards where the voice had come from. "Who's there!"

Keria, dripping wet from the rain and furious with anger, stood silhouetted in the open doorway. Flip and Cascata were behind her, and through the rain could be seen the flashing lights of police cars.

She pointed a single finger in the direction of the criminal. "I am Keria, and you have stolen my look, as well as many other valuable items! How _dare_ you attempt to frame me for your crimes! You shall not get away with this!" she shouted, her voice flooding every corner of the large stone gym. She pulled a Pokéball from her pocket and gave it a quick kiss for luck before throwing it onto the field. "Go, Sandy! Let's see who this person really is!"

In a flash of light, a Sandslash emerged from the Pokéball and began charging towards the thief. It swiped one with its right claw, just grazing the fabric of her purple coat. The coat was ripped off, and suddenly it became very clear the thief was not as similar to Keria as they had thought

The woman had much longer hair of a lighter shade of brown, which lacked any of the waves and curls Keria's seemed to have. Her skin was much paler, and she appeared a little taller, though this easily could have been an illusion caused by her almost unnaturally narrow waist. As if in response to her disguise being ruined, her eyes opened to their normal state.

"I don't understand! This was perfect!" the woman yelled in frustration. "I won't let you screw it up! Go, Houndour!" She threw a Pokéball to the ground as if she were trying to break it.

A Houndour emerged, and it snarled at the Sandslash. It lunged instinctively, but the Sandslash leapt atop one of the larger rocks and the Houndour skidded to a stop beside it.

"Hah! You're joking, right? Has that puppy even battled before?" Keria called, almost cheerfully. "Mud-slap it, Sandy!"

The Houndour attempted another charge at the Sandslash while the mouse scrambled over towards where some of the rain from outside had leaked in and was starting to form a puddle. It used its claw like a shovel to fling a large amount of the mud straight into the Houndour's face. The mixture of sand and water caused it to whine in pain as it hissed against the fiery heat of its skin. The Houndour shook its head, trying to clear its vision.

"What are you waiting for, Houndour! Use Ember!" she commanded, trying to scoop up as many of the the pokéballs, stones, and bills into the first bag she could grab.

"Swift!" Keria cried out.

The Houndour shot a small burst of flame at the Sandslash, but it was off by enough for the mouse to dodge it. The Sandslash then curled up and began rolling in place, giving off a spray of star-shaped sparks. The Houndour was hit by the majority of them, but others went off in different directions on the enemy's side, including straight through the fabric of the bag the thief was holding.

"Total emergency!" the thief cried, and held out a Pokéball. The Houndour vanished into it before everyone's eyes. She began running towards a door in the back while she yelled, "Get 'em, Charizard!"

The Charizard rose into the air upon hearing its owner call, and did a diving attack against the Sandslash, knocking it back a few feet. It managed to stay on its feet, but it vanished just as the Houndour had moments before.

"Good job, Sandy," Keria said, replacing the Pokéball back in her pocket and pulling out another. "Now, however, it's time to show this thief a real Charizard! Go, Brenner!" She kissed this one, too, and tossed it onto the battlefield.

The first thing one could notice as soon as the second Charizard came into view was that it was over a foot taller than the previous one and much more muscular. It held its head up and let out a rumbling roar, causing the smaller one to recoil a bit and land awkwardly on the ground.

About this time, the thief, who had been trying to open the door but found it tightly locked, slammed into it with the entire weight of her body. She did this two more times before the lock gave up and the door went flying open. "Losers!" she called back, then vanished into it.

Keria turned her head and said to Flip and Cascata, "You two, follow her! I'll make sure the Charizard doesn't attack you!"

"We're on it!" Cascata said, and the two took off in a sprint along the right side of the gym.

"Now then," Keria said to herself, turning back to the battle. "Brenner, use Fly!"

The two Charizards began lifting themselves into the air. Keria's Charizard flew away from the opponent, who had noticed the two trainers and was turning in their direction. The larger Charizard lunged at the opponent, slamming him into the boulder-covered battlefield. The smaller one returned his attention to the battle and slashed with its sharp claws across other's arm while Flip and Cascata continued running towards the broken door.

"Mega Punch, Brenner!"

A large, scaly fist collided with the side of the other Charizard's head. It recoiled a moment, then took a deep breath in before unleashing a narrow cone of flames in response. Brenner flinched a little, but otherwise only looked a bit singed from the attack.

"Haha!" Keria laughed and struck a very smug looking pose. "Ah, battles like this remind me how good it feels to be a competent trainer. Since we're wrapping this battle up anyway, how about showing this Charizard a real Flamethrower, eh, Brenner?"

The larger Charizard snorted to confirm the command. Its chest swelled as it filled its lungs with air. When it reached its limit, the Charizard opened its mouth and unleashed a large flame. The other Charizard was consumed and, despite its own fire type and therefore its resistance to fire, fell forward onto the ground afterwards with a loud thud. Keria's Charizard let out a triumphant roar.

Keria beamed with pride. "Victory! Good job, Brenner! Now, let's-"

The battle didn't seem to be over, however. The other Charizard attempted to fly again, and dived at its opponent with a clumsy sort of rage. Brenner threw it off almost immediately, but it did a u-turn in the air and rammed its head straight into the larger Charizard's chest. It skidded off to the left and landed in a crumpled heap on a large boulder. This still did not stop it however, and it quickly regained what little composure it could manage.

"What's going on! Is it crazy! It can't still have the strength to fight!" Keria said, looking unusually worried for the other Pokémon. "It's only going to hurt itself! Pin it down, Brenner!"

Her Charizard turned and gave her a quick nod and rose into the air. The other Charizard, seeing this as a chance to attack, charged Brenner's legs in an attempt to bring him back to the ground. Brenner pumped his wings with as much strength as he could manage, rising into the air before the other Charizard could grab him. It fell to the ground and Brenner quickly dropped to place a large foot firmly on its back. The opponent began flailing wildly, sending flames in random directions and scorching the field in many places.

"What's _with_ this thing?" Keria asked herself, quickly jumping out of the way of one of the stray fireballs. "What could make it so angry that it would push itself beyond its limits to win this fight?"

* * *

"There we go!" the thief said to herself, turning down an empty street. She paused a moment to catch her breath, but soon heard the splash of someone running through a puddle in her direction, and quickly decided it would be better to keep going and wait until she was far away from the city to rest. She broke into a run again 

"Freeze, thief! You're under arrest for armed robbery!" a voice called.

She could see Officer Jenny waiting with some other police officers at the end of the street, all who apparently had expected her to exit the gym. She backed up in surprise. Her legs froze, but in the back of her mind she knew it didn't matter anyway. The entire police force was probably cutting off all routes out of the city.

"Oh, come _on!_ This wasn't supposed to be this hard!" the thief yelled at no one in particular. She quickly pulled out her gun and pointed it forward. "Listen, whether I have to use this again or not, you're not catching me! So don't force me to make this messier than it has to be!"

It was then, however, that a light blue serpent leapt upon her right arm and began wrapping around it. She screamed and attempted to shake it off as violently as she could. The serpent, which she could now see was a Dratini, focused its constricting on her hand and managed to pull the gun out of it. The Pokémon and the weapon dropped to the ground in a heap, and as soon as the Dratini recovered from the fall, it smashed the gun with all of its strength.

The thief turned, and saw the trainers Flip and Cascata approaching from the other direction. "You're not going anywhere!" Flip said, holding a Pokéball in his hand.

Her eyes grew very wide with fear as she looked back and forth between the police officers heading towards her and the two trainers readying to call out their other Pokémon. "Not good! Well, looks like I'll have to use my last resort," she said, pulling out what appeared from the markings to be an Ultra Ball. "Get me out of here, Abra!"

The Ultra Ball opened, revealing the Psychic Pokémon known as Abra. It sat for a split second on the ground in front of the thief, eyes closed as if it were asleep, before the Pokémon and its trainer began glowing. Flip and Officer Jenny both dived for the two in a desperate final attempt to stop them, but the two vanished in a flash of psychic power right after the girl got a final word in:

"Buh-bye, losers!"

Flip rubbed his head from his hitting it on the wet pavement. "She's gone," he mumbled, feeling it necessary to restate the obvious.

Officer Jenny clenched a fist in frustration. "She got away! I don't believe this! The thief got away!"

Cascata sighed. "Well, at least she didn't get away with any of the stolen goods, right?"

Officer Jenny sighed and shook her head. "But she got away, and we have no way of tracking her down."

The conversation was cut off by a loud scream followed by the roar of a Charizard.

"Did you hear that!" Flip asked.

"It sounded like it came from the gym!" Officer Jenny responded, jumping to her feet.

"Which means Keria is in trouble!" Cascata exclaimed, heading back towards where she came.

When the group arrived back in the gym, they saw the smaller Charizard looming over the unconscious body of Keria. A broken Great Ball lay on the ground to the side of them. The large Pokémon noticed them almost immediately and turned to face them. It let out another tremendous roar before firing a fountain of flames at them. The people all scattered to either side, narrowly dodging the attack. It focused its attacks at Flip and Cascata, who had both chosen to take cover behind the nearest boulder.

"What are we going to do!" Cascata asked aloud, ducking to avoid the fire that was shooting over her head. "Keria's out, and she was the only one with strong enough Pokémon to take out that Charizard!"

"We have to wait this out!" Flip replied, looking around the rock at the raging Pokémon. "It's a long shot, but I think we can let it just tire itself out."

"But what if it turns its attacks on Jenny and the other officers?" Cascata asked. "Worse, what if it decides to attack Keria more? She'd be at the mercy of his attacks!"

He looked at Keria, who was still sprawled out on the ground behind the Charizard. "Agh, you're right. We need to do something and fast," Flip said, returning to ducking fully behind the rock. He closed his eyes, thinking. They snapped open less than a moment later. "Wait! That Charizard should be weakened from fighting Keria's Charizard, right?"

"Right. You think she tried to catch it?" Cascata said, remembering the broken Great Ball.

"I'm almost certain," Flip said, pulling out a Pokéball. "Our Pokémon may be weaker than Keria's, but if we used more than one..."

"I get it! Why worry about following the League rules for an emergency situation like this?" Cascata asked.

"We'll just say it's a double battle," Flip said, smiling, "and the opponent wanted to use only one Pokémon. Ready?"

Cascata nodded. "Let's get this battle started!"

The two leapt out from behind the rock and posed dramatically. "We challenge you!" they said at the same time, holding their Pokéballs forward. The Charizard looked at them, puzzled.

"Go, Hazard!" Flip called out, throwing the Pokéball.

"Go, Cira!" Cascata shouted, throwing her Pokéball as well.

The two Pokéballs landed next to each other and popped open, revealing a small electric rodent and a tiny bird. Despite them looking their fiercest, the Charizard laughed in a deep and rumbling bellow. It stomped on the ground in front of them, causing the Pichu to fall over. The mouse stood back up immediately, however, and began sparking at the cheeks threateningly.

"Cira, use Sand Attack!" Cascata yelled to her Pokémon, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure her voice carried far enough.

"Thunderwave, Hazard!" Flip commanded.

The Pichu sent a seemingly ineffective jolt into the Charizard's body, and the Pokémon began to laugh even harder. The Pidgey flapped its wings and caused a cloud of dirt to fly into the Charizard's eyes. This enraged it, and it made a move to attack only to find that its muscles were tightening and it could barely move at all.

"Good work, Hazard!" Flip said. "Now, use Thundershock!"

"Use your Gust attack, Cira!" Cascata yelled.

Pichu jumped atop one of the nearby rocks to avoid a slash from the Charizard's claws, then began charging electricity in its cheeks. When it reached the limit to the power its cheeks could store at the moment, it released a shock into the massive body of the Charizard. The Pidgey, from the other side, created a very small tornado which picked up the sand and gravel from the ground and slammed them into the fire lizard. The Charizard was growing angry, and attempted to slam its fist into the Pidgey but narrowly missed it and smashed the rock it had perched on instead.

"It's working!" Cascata cried in delight. "Use Gust again!"

"Keep Thundershocking it!" Flip shouted to his Pichu.

The two dodged another round of attacks from the slowed and blinded Charizard, then sent another shock and tornado in the direction of its body. The opponent seemed to be growing very angry at this point. It slashed at the Pidgey and connected this time, sending it plummeting to the ground in seconds.

"Cira! Return!" Cascata called, holding out her Pokéball for the Pokémon to be sucked back into. "You'll pay for hurting her, you big meanie! Go, Wade!"

She flung another Pokéball onto the field and her Squirtle popped out, smiling happily and doing a little dance as it appeared. It looked up at the Charizard and cried out in fear, leaping backwards while the Pichu shocked the enemy a third time.

"Don't be scared, Wade! Use Bubble!" Cascata called to her Pokémon.

The small turtle nodded, trying to look as confident as it could, sending a spray of foamy bubbles straight into the face of the large Pokémon. The Pichu managed to shock it a fourth time before the Charizard slammed its fist straight into the rodent's yellow belly and sent it flying backwards.

"Pichau!" it whined, collapsing in a little furry heap.

"H-hazard!" Flip yelled, holding up the Pokéball for the little Pokémon to return to. "You did your best, Hazard. Now, Dratini, it's your turn!"

"Tini!" it cried, springing off Flip's shoulder. The Dratini showed no signs of fear of the massive reptile. In fact, it leered at the Charizard in a way that made it stumble in a frightened sort of surprise despite the obvious difference in strength.

"Keep using Bubble, Wade!" Cascata called. "I think it's going to fall soon!"

"It's too big to Wrap," Flip said to himself. "But does Dratini have any other attacks? Maybe... Dratini, see if you can do a Twister attack!"

The small dragon, in response, began to concentrate. It focused its energy, then released it all in a spiral of wind into the Charizard's stomach. The Charizard turned and attempted to strike the small Pokémon, but failed and was hit with another spray of bubbles that started hissing against its burning skin. The Charizard snarled in pain

"You did it Dratini!" Flip called excitedly. "Do it again! I think we've almost finished this battle!"

The Dratini unleashed another Twister straight towards the belly of the Charizard and the Squirtle another Bubble into its face. The Charizard breathed fire at the two, managing to hit the turtle with the very edge of it. "Squir-tuhl!" it cried in pain, clutching the spot where it was hit. The Charizard turned to focus its attacks on it.

"Wade!" Cascata called, holding the Pokéball ready to call the Pokémon back.

Before the Charizard could attack, however, Dratini fired another Twister at it, this one hitting it straight in the side of the head and causing it to fall over. The two Pokémon and their trainers stood still for a moment, waiting for any sign of movement. Its wings and tail twitched a bit before it gave out a sigh of defeat.

"We did it!" Cascata yelled, throwing her arms into the air. "We really did it!"

"We... we did, didn't we!" Flip said. "We actually won!"

"Hooray! We must be the best team ever!" Cascata shouted, giving Flip a big hug, causing him to freeze and go bright red.

"Uh... erm... w-well," he began, "it certainly _was_ impressive our Pokémon could take down something like that Charizard, even if it was already weakened."

"It sure was!" Cascata exclaimed. "Oh, wait, that's right, Keria!" She let go quickly and ran over to the other trainer.

The trainer had already awoken. She was hunched over a bit, holding the right side of her face. "Agh. How did it break out? I've never seen that happen before," she muttered to herself.

Cascata knelt in front of her. "Are you okay? What happened?" she asked.

"The Charizard wouldn't give in to defeat," Keria began, looking at its limp body on the battlefield. "There are some scars on it, mostly the wings. And it was raging like a savage beast. I think that thief did something to it. No, I'm sure of it."

"Like what?" Flip said, stretching one of its wings out to full length. When he did such, he could see a number of long pale scars crisscrossing in strange patterns.

"Abused it, probably. She was hurting it when we first entered here, remember?" she said, rubbing her face tenderly again. "It's happened before in the past: Pokémon being mistreated and becoming feral beasts with an uncontainable urge not only to win but to destroy."

"So you tried to catch it?" Flip questioned, gently placing the wing in its natural folded position.

"Absolutely!" Keria said, looking at him. "The thief abandoned it. Even if she were to come back for it, how could it possibly be trusted in the hands of a trainer who would not only abuse it but abandon it as well? I had a moral obligation to make sure she didn't get her hands on it again!"

"But what were you going to do with it?" Cascata said, standing up and offering a hand to help the weakened trainer stand up as well.

"Well, that's the second reason I had for trying to capture it," Keria said, taking the hand and pulling herself to her feet. "My sister has a talent for dealing with Pokémon like this and calming them down to their normal selves. I was going to bring the Charizard to her." She walked over and picked up the pieces of the broken Great Ball. "But the Charizard did something strange. It couldn't break out at first. It was a successful capture, so I called Brenner back and was picking up the Great Ball to send to my storage. Then, all at once, the Pokéball started shaking again and it broke out, causing the ball to explode open in my hands. And that's all I remember. The blast knocked me out, I guess." She sighed, "I knew I should have used an Ultra Ball."

Flip pulled out an empty Pokéball. "Well, now it should be weak enough for this. Do you mind, Keria?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Uh, Flip, that's a bad idea. It might be weak enough for that now, but once it gets its strength back, I have a feeling it'll break out of it like it did with the Great Ball. Hang on," she said, digging into a pocket on the side of her pants. She pulled out a variety of different Pokéballs, and handed a black one with a gold stripe down the middle to him. "Here. It shouldn't stand a chance against an Ultra Ball. I'm only letting you catch it because you probably would like Charizard added to your Pokédex. Am I right?" Flip nodded. "Thought so. Don't even think about using it for battle. There's no chance you'd be able to control it, and that's a risk you really don't want to take."

"I know, I know," he said, taking a moment to examine the Ultra Ball in his hands. "More black and gold. How odd."

"What's odd?" Keria asked, examining how the pieces of the Great Ball fit together.

"I'll tell you later," he sighed, dropping the Ultra Ball on the fainted Pokémon. It didn't even bother to attempt escape. He picked it up, and heard a small chime from his Pokédex to indicate that detailed information on the new Pokémon had been added.

* * *

The girl with pink hair woke up to find herself in a bed at the Pokécenter. It was too dark outside to see anything outside, but she could hear the soft sound of rain falling on the roof. The weather seemed to finally be letting up. She yawned and stretched, looking around. 

"Long time no see, Hope," someone said from very close. "How was your nap?"

The trainer turned and saw Keria sitting on one of the other beds, holding an ice pack over her right eye. "Oh, Keria! Thank goodness it's you!" she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Awful things have been happening. There's a thief who disguised herself as you and-"

Keria laughed. "I know, Hope. That's old news. The thief got away, but luckily with nothing of what she stole." She shifted the way she was holding the ice pack in an attempt to keep her hand from going numb. "How'd you get involved with this, anyway?"

Hope laughed. "I suppose I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's all. But I think I have some information that might help."

"Oh, really?" the dark haired trainer replied, looking up. Hope nodded and was about to go into further detail, but Keria cut off by saying, "Wait until the police come back and tell them. I've had enough of this for one day, and it's been ages since we've seen each other."

"You two know each other?" Cascata asked. The two turned to see her standing in the doorway, holding her Squirtle who still had a bandage wrapped around his torso where the fire had hit.

"Know each other? We were close friends back when we were in school!" Keria said, smiling. "But I haven't seen her since we started our Pokémon training. I'm surprised she still recognizes me."

Hope laughed. "Oh, come on. You've grown a lot, but you're more or less exactly the same as you were four years ago. In fact, the thing that threw me off the most is that you're not wearing your glasses!"

"Contact lenses," Keria explained.

"My name is Hope," the pink haired trainer said, holding up a hand to the other trainer.

"I'm Cascata, and this is my Squirtle, Wade," Cascata said, shaking it.

"And my name is Flip," Flip said, walking in behind Cascata, "and these are my Pokémon, Dratini and Hazard." Dratini was perched on his shoulders as always, and Hazard was beside him looking good as new.

"Are these two both new friends of yours, Keria?" Hope asked, bending down and inviting the Pichu over to have his ear scratched. Hazard ran over eagerly, letting out a small squeak of joy.

"I guess so," Keria responded, looking at the two trainers. "They're both just starting as trainers, but they've got amazing potential. Using low-level, unevolved Pokémon, they somehow managed to finish off that thief's Charizard. I mean, I had weakened it quite a bit first, but, still!"

"That is quite remarkable," Hope said, letting the Pichu jump into her lap. "The Charizard was at a very high level, I believe. A challenge even for trainers who have been training Pokémon as long as Keria or I have. I'm impressed you two were even able to scratch it."

"I'm impressed my Pichu hasn't shocked you yet," Flip said, backing away nervously. "I'd be careful with him if I were you."

"Don't worry," Keria said. "Hope has something about her Pokémon seem to really like. Sometimes when we were little kids, large and powerful Pokémon would come up to her and start acting friendly and playful."

"Have you ever had your face licked by a Mightyena?" Hope asked, giggling a bit.

"I remember that!" Keria exclaimed, starting to giggle as well. "My Mom was so scared that it was going... to..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence as a look of shock spread over my face.

"Is something wrong, Keria?" Cascata asked.

"My Mom!" Keria yelled, jumping up and dropping her ice pack. "Officer Jenny called my parents and told them I committed those robberies, remember! I need to go make a call right away!" She ran straight between Flip and Cascata, nearly knocking them over, and into the Pokécenter lobby.

"That's not good," Hope sighed. "Keria's parents have always viewed her highly. They're probably very upset about hearing something like this." She stood up while holding the Pichu and began following her friend. "But I'm curious to see how this will turn out. Come on, she'll probably need our moral support anyway."

The three walked into the lobby to see Keria sitting at one of the videophones, waiting nervously for someone to pick up on the other end. The screen had a small picture of a ringing phone for a few moments before it flickered and showed an image of a woman with purple hair down to her chin and glasses. Her face was flushed as if she had been crying. "Hello, who is... _Keria!_" she shouted into the phone, her eyes flying open in anger.

"Hi, Mom," Keria started, already starting to sweat. "Listen, you probably got a call earlier saying-"

"That you've become a good-for-nothing criminal! This is inexcusable, Keria!" the woman screamed, obviously boiling with rage. "We didn't spend ten years raising you just so you could do this! You had a good home, a good life, a good family. Where did we go wrong, Keria!"

"Listen, mom!" Keria managed to say. "There's been a huge misunderstanding! That's all!"

"No, I think I understand perfectly well! You're still worked up over your loss at the Pewter City gym, aren't you! I told you I was always here to talk if you needed me! But no! I haven't even heard from you in two years! And now this!" Keria's mother shouted.

"Mom! Calm down!" Keria pleaded. "Calm down. There was a very large misunderstanding. The thief just happened to look a lot like me. It's all kind of complicated."

The woman settled down a bit, but she still looked extremely upset. "And how do I know you're not lying to me right now? If you're a criminal, then lying to your own mother wouldn't be out of the question, would it?"

Keria sighed. "If I had robbed the Pokécenter, then why would I be calling from it and not the jail cell I was locked in not too long ago?"

The woman stopped suddenly, very surprised. She said nothing but made a gesture with her hand for Keria to move to one side. The girl did such, and her mother now had a full view of the Pokécenter lobby behind her, including the Nurse Joy with her arm wrapped in a tight bandage handing Cascata back her Pidgey. Keria's mother let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I wouldn't know what I would have done if my little girl had really turned to a life of crime."

"Come on, mom, you know me better than that," Keria said, smiling. "I suppose dad's upset, too?"

"Absolutely!" her mother replied. "He'll be so relieved to hear this. I'm so happy to finally hear from you! Why haven't you called in so long?"

The trainer laughed. "I lost my cellphone."

"What?" the woman responded. "Keria, not again! You lose things far too often. I thought you told me you would try to keep better track of your things!"

"I've been trying, Mom, but- oh, hold on a second," she said, turning around to look at her friends. "Could you go away now that you've seen my mother yell at me? I've been embarrassed enough, and I have the feeling-"

"Oh, Hope, it's been a long time! How are you?" Keria's mother said, noting the girl standing on the edge of the screen.

"I'm fine, thank you," the girl replied in a polite tone. "Please tell my parents I said hello."

"Of course, of course. And who's that boy?" the woman asked, noting Flip. "He's cute. How long have you two known each other?"

"M-mom!" Keria responded, turning around quickly, cheeks bright red. "I just met him!"

Her mother laughed. "I'm only curious! What's wrong?"

She buried her face in her palm. "You're embarrassing me"

The woman looked surprised. "Goodness, I'm sorry! I didn't realize you might have a crush-"

"_Mom!_ I do _not_ have a crush!"

Hope laughed. "I think this is our cue to exit," she said to Flip as they started walking away.

Cascata was talking with Nurse Joy at the desk. "You can take your Squirtle's bandages off tomorrow," the nurse said, smiling as always.

"Thank you very much, Nurse Joy," Cascata replied, returning both of her Pokémon to their Pokéballs.

"How's the Charizard?" Flip asked, approaching the counter as well.

Nurse Joy handed the Ultra Ball back to him. "Healed and not breaking out, whichever you meant. What do you plan to do with it?"

"Well, we talked it over with Keria, and she said she would lead us to her older sister, who she says can return it to its normal self. After that, I don't know. It's much too strong for me to keep. I guess I'll wait until then to figure out what I should do," Flip said, staring at the Pokéball.

"Have a good time traveling with Keria," Hope said. "From what I've heard, she's become a very strong trainer just as everyone predicted she would. However, she can be very moody sometimes, and she tends to be very unlucky. So this little journey with her could be more of a trip than you know."

"Sounds like it'll be lots of fun," Flip sighed, looking back at Keria.

"Dad, you're even worse than Mom!" Keria shouted. "He's _not_ my boyfriend, and I have _no_ interest in having him as one!"

* * *

The rain, to make up for dampening the light and colors of the world below the day before, had left a glistening effect on everything that seemed to bring them out more than usual. Sunlight was able to reflect off the remaining drops of water and dew almost completely unopposed by clouds. It was a gorgeous day, the best possible one could expect after such a storm. 

"So, we're off to Cerulean City?" Keria asked, following behind Cascata and Flip as the three of them started on the trail heading to Mount Moon, Dratini coiled on Flip's shoulders as always.

"That's the idea. Flip and I both want to visit the gym and earn a badge!" Cascata spoke merrily.

"Oh, really? So Pewter lost their gym leader, and Cerulean found one? That's interesting," Keria said, looking off to the side and admiring the scenery.

"What?" Cascata said, looking surprised. "You didn't hear about that?"

"Actually, I didn't about that, either," Flip said. "Who _is_ the gym leader?"

Cascata sighed. "Am I the only one here who keeps up with current events? Anyway, the leader's name is David. I've heard he's a real cute guy, too. I can't wait to meet him!"

Keria and Flip both stopped. "Did you say... David?" Flip asked.

"That's right," she said, stopping as well and turning around. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really. Just another funny coincidence, I guess. I doubt it's the same David," Flip said, starting to walk again.

"Yes, David is a rather common name, I'd say," Keria laughed, continuing her stride as well. "I know more Davids than I want to."

"Hey! Wait! Excuse me, would you wait just a minute?" a voice called after them. It sounded like Officer Jenny, so the group stopped and turned around. The woman was running after them.

"What is it now?" Keria sighed. "I'm not going to be arrested again, am I?"

"No, not at all!" Jenny replied, finally catching up with them. "Again, I'm very sorry about the misunderstanding. However, you were extremely helpful in cornering the thief and recovering the stolen goods. You showed a great amount of skill as a Pokémon trainer. It is because of this that I ask on behalf of Pewter City for you to be our new gym leader!"

The trainer looked surprised. "I... well... but..." She shook her head. "You're joking, right?"

Officer Jenny looked offended. "Why would I be? The whole city is praising you and your two friends as heroes! We would be honored to have you as our gym leader, not to mention our representative in the Pokémon League! I realize you need to help these trainers take care of that Charizard, but that shouldn't take too long and you could come back after-"

"I'm terribly flattered, really," Keria said, looking away. "However, I have never felt the desire to be a gym leader, and even if I did... well... there are personal reasons..."

The officer was confused. "Personal reasons? Like what?"

Keria began walking away. "Have you forgotten so quickly? It was in this very city, in that very gym, that the world's respect of me vanished and I lost millions of fans. You want to take the place of the one who defeated me before I have proven I am the better Pokémon trainer? Come on, Flip, Cascata. Mount Moon awaits."

"Well, if that's how you feel about it..." Jenny said. "Oh! One more thing. Your friend Hope managed to learn some important information about that thief!"

The girl stopped and turned around again. "Oh, yes, I never did let her tell me that. Well, what is it?"

"Her name is Smilia. She's not an independent criminal. Hope overheard her talking on the phone with the head of some larger organization. Apparently she called the person on the other end 'Master'. We think it must be something like Team Rocket," Officer Jenny said.

"Smilia? That's an odd name," Keria said, and noticed Flip and Cascata were giving her a strange look. "What? Oh, and I suppose 'Flip' and 'Cascata' are that much more normal than 'Keria'!"

"Whatever," Cascata sighed, shaking her head. "Goodbye, Officer Jenny! Good luck finding a new gym leader!"

"Yeah, and be prepared to see us again when you do! I can't wait for a chance to get that badge!" Flip said.

"See you all!" Officer Jenny said, waving. "You're welcome in our city any time!"

"I'll do my best to find more information about Smilia! Until then, goodbye!" Keria called.

The three continued walking on the path towards Mount Moon that so many other trainers great and small had treaded. Dratini dropped off Flip's shoulders and began slithering beside them and bobbing its head left and right cheerfully. At some point it began singing a song in its squeaky dragon voice and all three of them found their steps falling into perfect time with it. The walk was silent until Cascata broke it with a question.

"Keria, how did you know Smilia was going to be in the gym, anyway?"

Keria paused a moment before answering, "Magic."

"No, really, how did you know?"

"I just said. Magic."

"Oh, come on, I'm not going to believe that like some little kid! Tell me!"

"Okay. I had looked around inside the gym right before you arrived and saw the bag of Pokéballs. It wasn't until later, though, that I figured out that they were the stolen ones. How else do you think I knew the gym leader wasn't there?"

"Oh, really!"

"No, of course not. It was magic."

"That's not funny!"

Flip just shook his head and sighed.


	3. Chapter 3 Discoveries

Dreamers  
Chapter 3  
Discoveries

Mount Moon continued to grow larger before the three trainers as they treaded the path towards it. This path seemed to be growing rougher by the minute, the yellowish dirt marked by the footprints of the hundreds of footprints of trainers who had already taken this path being broken more constantly by large rocks embedded halfway into the earth or long gnarled roots that seemed to have failed at submerging themselves fully underground. Such a detail was not much of a problem for the humans as it was for the Dratini, but even he was able to travel over the bumps and stones without too much difficultly, stopping only to listen to the call of a far-off Pokémon.

It was Keria who first tried to make conversation again. "So, how did you two meet?" she asked.

"Who, me and Flip?" Cascata said, looking up at her. "It's kind of funny, actually."

"She was fishing, and her hook became caught on my sleeve..."

"And I thought I had a bite, so..."

"She pulled me into the river..."

"But I pulled him out afterwards, and that was how we met!" Cascata finished.

Keria laughed. "Oh, really? That's a very funny coincidence," she said, shading her eyes to get a better look at Mount Moon. "I assume you've heard of the trainer Ash Ketchum?"

"How could we _not_ have heard of him?" Flip asked, watching his Dratini to make sure it did not fall too far behind.

"I had an excuse to not hear about the new Cerulean City gym leader," Keria said with a smirk. "You don't seem to. The only reason I can think of is that you might have lived in a hole in the ground before you became a trainer."

"Hey!" Flip snapped, looking up suddenly. However, he dropped his anger when he saw Keria's smile since it told him she had only been joking.

"Anyway, it's not a very well known fact, though like most trivia facts rather interesting," Keria started, "that he met the Cerulean City gym leader in a similar way. He jumped into a river, and she literally fished him out."

Cascata looked surprised. "Really? No joke?"

Keria nodded, then paused a moment in thought. "You know, it's actually an intriguing idea. Fishing for a boyfriend. I'll have to try it sometime."

Flip and Cascata both stopped. Flip's face had turned bright red and he seemed completely frozen. Cascata was blushing as well as she stammered in surprise, "H-he's not my boyfriend! What gave you that idea!"

"Oh, he isn't?" Keria asked, looking mildly surprised herself. "My apologies, then. It's just that the way you were walking with him in the rain yesterday and the way you hugged him after that battle... I dunno, little things like that just gave me the wrong impression, I guess. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"I'm sorry!" Cascata said for no real reason. "I've always been a little clingy."

Keria smiled. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, nothing at all," Flip sighed, looking off to one side.

"Be proud of your faults, they make you more interesting. That's what I think, anyway. Well, it seems we've finally arrived at Mount Moon," Keria stated, striding up to a large sign. It had a map on it detailing all the different routes that existed through Mount Moon and the approximate time for each. She and her two fellow trainers started studying it carefully.

"So, which one should we take?" Flip asked, looking at the key. He could tell that while some of the routes were entirely inside or outside of the caves, most of them, particularly the long ones, had different portions in and out.

"How about this one?" Cascata said, tracing one with her finger. "It's short and straightforward, and it's in the caves for the first half and outside them for the second."

"It's okay, I guess, but-" Keria started.

"Oh!" Flip said. "This one's pretty good! See, it goes along the edge of the mountain, and it goes into a deep cave here. It should give us a chance to see lots of Pokémon!"

Oh, come on, you two, where's your sense of adventure?" Keria said, unfolding her arms. "We have all the time in the world. Why not make the most of this mountain and take the longest route?" She traced the long, winding line for them to see.

"I dunno." Cascata said. "It is really long..."

"And it looks a little dangerous..." Flip spoke.

She smiled reassuringly. "We won't make it back to Cerulean City before dark, but it should show us the best scenery Mount Moon has to offer and I can guarantee we'll see a lot more Pokémon than if we went another way."

It seemed she had said the magic words. "That's right! I've heard stories about how beautiful the view can be from Mount Moon!" Cascata said, her eyes glimmering.

"And I'm always up for more Pokémon! You think we'll find a Clefairy?" Flip said, looking a lot more eager than before.

"We'd be a day late for that. I've heard they've only been seen on Mondays, and unfortunately it is currently Tuesday. Still, anything's possible, I suppose. Let's go!" Keria said, leading the way for the other two.

Flip turned and called, "Come on, Dratini!"

The little dragon lifted its head from investigating some rather uninteresting bushes and slided on its belly back to its trainer. Not a moment later, a Jigglypuff popped out of the bushes and cried, "Jiggly!" while blinking its enormous eyes.

"A Jigglypuff!" Flip said, pulling out a Pokéball. "This is great!"

"Dibs!" Cascata called out, stepping in front of him.

"Hey, no fair! Dratini found it!" Flip said, looking at her sadly.

"But I really like Jigglypuff!" Cascata said, pouting at him and looking with teary eyes. "Let me catch it, please!"

Flip was completely useless in resisting her cuteness. "Fine," he sighed.

"You new trainers. There will always be more Jigglypuff," Keria said, taking a seat on a nearby rock to watch the battle.

"Alright, Cira, let's go!" Cascata said, throwing a Pokéball. The Pidgey appeared instantly, holding up its wings to show that it was ready to fight.

"Purgey purge!" it cooed.

The Jigglypuff was quick to act, throwing the weight of its marshmallow-like body onto the bird. However, since this wasn't really very much weight at all, the Pidgey was only knocked back a little bit.

"Sand-attack!"

The Pidgey began blowing up sand with its wings, hitting the Jigglypuff straight in its enormous eyes. Being unable to see the opponent, the Jigglypuff decided to sing it to sleep instead, but the moment it opened its mouth some sand landed in there, too, causing it to cough and sputter instead.

"Now, use Quick Attack!" Cascata called, getting an empty Pokéball ready.

The Jigglypuff managed to rub some of the sand out of its eyes, but only to find the Pidgey gone. It looked around, confused, only to be dive-bombed from behind by the small bird. It went rolling a few feet and bumped into a tree.

"You're mine, Jigglypuff!" Cascata called out, throwing the Pokéball at the puffball. It wriggled around for a few moments, but the ball broke open and the Jigglypuff appeared again. "It's not weak enough. Tackle it, Cira!"

The Pidgey lifted itself into the air again, then dived upon the balloon Pokémon. It rolled forward again, this time stopping right in front of Cascata. The Pokémon stood up, stumbling a bit.

"Perfect!" Cascata said, tossing another Pokéball on it. The ball rolled around as the Jigglypuff tried to escape, but this time it failed to do such. It stopped and Cascata heard her Pokédex being updated. "I did it!"

"Not bad. I'd say that was a great start for today," Keria said. "So, ready to go?"

"Just a minute, just a minute! I want to give my new Pokémon a nickname," Cascata said, pulling out her Pokédex and checking the information on the Jigglypuff. "Aw! My Jigglypuff's a girl!" She looked up in thought. "I think I'll call her Cream!"

"As in creampuff, right? Cute," Keria said, standing up.

"Uh-huh!" Cascata said, smiling. She held out a Pokéball. "Great job, Cira! Return!"

"Alright, now, let's go!" Flip said, posing dramatically. "Mount Moon, here we come!"

There was a pause.

"Say, Keria, which way was it, again?"

* * *

"Light the way for us, Montague!" Keria called, her voice echoing off the walls of the cave. There was the sound of a Pokéball dropping on the hard ground, and in a burst of light a Jolteon appeared before the three trainers.

"Jowlt!" it barked, and the spikes of its hair began crackling with electricity. Soon a glow appeared around it similar to one of a lightbulb, making it possible to see in the darkness of the cave.

The entire cave seemed to glisten with the light reflecting off the surfaces of many crystals too tiny to be seen. Through the labyrinth of stone formations a clear path could be seen that was lightly dusted with sand. This was the only way to go, so the trio began walking it.

"Come on, Dratini, don't get distracted," Flip said, noting that his dragon Pokémon was deciding instead to wind around on the sides, poking its head into any little hole in the way.

"Might as well let him, Flip," Cascata said, watching the Dratini explore. "He might flush out a Pokémon or two that way."

"Speaking of which, I get to catch the next one we encounter," Flip said, still looking a bit unhappy.

"Of course. In fact, how about we take turns?" she suggested. "You get the next one, I get the one after that, you get the one after that, and so on. Making exceptions, of course, for Pokémon the other has already caught, favorites..."

"That works for me," Flip said, looking around for another Pokémon.

"You know, if I didn't have such a large Pokémon collection already, I might be a little upset you're not including me in this little agreement," Keria said, watching her Jolteon.

"Oh, sorry!" Cascata said. "If you want-"

"Like I just said, I'm not actually upset," she responded, looking over her shoulder. "However, if we come across an Onix, I would like to have it. That is probably one of the only ones in Mount Moon I haven't caught. Well, besides Clefairy, but I have a feeling it'd be difficult to talk either of you into letting catch a Clefairy if we happen to see one. Anyway, is that alright?"

"Sure thing, Keria," Flip said. "How many Pokémon _do_ you have, anyway?"

She laughed. "If you must know, my Pokédex is well over 200 and counting."

The other two said in unison, "_Over 200!_"

"I've been training for four years, so what do you expect?" Keria said, smiling smugly. "That's about average. I've been meaning to catch more, but I've focused more on training my team. It's nice to have a lot of Pokémon, but in the end it's not how many you have that determines how good of a trainer you are; it's how strong of a team you can build."

"So, the average trainer catches about fifty Pokémon per year?" Flip asked, trying to calculate it in his head.

"No, of course not. The number changes. The first year a trainer usually has about a hundred Pokémon in their Pokédex since they don't have any of the common ones. They catch less and less each year as they have less well known Pokémon to catch. It's not uncommon for a trainer to always catch about half as many new Pokémon one year as he did the year before. Of course, the average goes up all the time as people learn about new Pokémon and their habitats," Keria explained.

"That sort of makes sense," Cascata said. "There sure are a lot of Pokémon in the world, aren't there?"

"More than we'll ever know, I think," Keria said. "It's a pretty big world. And there are some who believe there might be even more Pokémon in space."

The conversation was cut off by a curious squeak and the flapping of wings. A Zubat fluttered down from the ceiling and began circling, or at least flying in some sort of shape, around the heads of the three. It did a complete turn around Flip's head and brushed against his nose, dropping down accidentally and flying straight between Keria's legs before rising up again and settling awkwardly in Cascata's hair. The girl also made a curious squeak as it turned its head to look at her with a lack of eyes.

"A-a-ahm..." she started, doing her best not to show she was afraid. "C...could you... uh... y-you know... do s-something about this... Zubat?" It flapped its wings a bit, causing her to let out a small shriek that wasn't quite enough to scare it away from its spot upon her head.

"Heh!" Keria laughed. "Scared of a little Zubat, are we?"

"Normally I wouldn't be, b-but..." Cascata started, trying to look up at the Zubat on her head. "It, uh... seems kinda hungry..." The bat attempted to drain some energy from her head, but was stopped by the hair and decided to just chew on that instead.

"Yeah, sure, Cascata," Keria said. "Though you do make a good point. And it might ruin your hair if it keeps trying to eat it like that."

Flip was approaching slowly with a Pokéball in his hand. "It's okay, Cassie. Just stay perfectly still, alright?"

The Zubat lifted up its head as if to look at him for a moment, and the boy froze. It wiggled its ears a few times, then went back to trying to get some blood from the hair. Flip took another step closer and dropped the Pokéball on it. The bat was sucked into the sphere and it bounced off Cascata's head and onto the ground. The Pokémon wrestled furiously to escape the Pokéball, causing it to ricochet off some of the rocks on the cave floor. However, despite this, before it could break out it seemed to start calming down, and slowly yet surely the Pokéball stopped moving altogether. Flip picked it up.

"That had to be the luckiest catch I've ever seen," Cascata said, smoothing out her hair. "Good job!"

"Well, Zubats have never been known to be the most difficult Pokémon in the world to catch," Keria said. "But you two are making progress already, I think. Shall we continue, then?"

Before she finished saying then, they started hearing something. It sounded like some sort of singing, though it was faint and distorted by echoes and thus none of them could make out what it was. It had a very mystic tone to it and consisted mostly of the same three nones over and over.

"What in the world?" Flip said. Then he gasped as he managed to make out what was being said for those same three notes."

"_Clefairy_..."

"What is it, Flip?" Cascata asked in a whisper.

"A Clefairy!" he spoke, his eyes very wide.

"Are you sure?" Keria said, boggling. "I mean, I suppose it makes sense. Clefairies can't just disappear on every day of the week but Monday. They have to live... somewhere..." She jumped up, holding the Jolteon in her arms. "Wait! If we can find that one, maybe it can lead us to where they live!"

Cascata's eyes grew very large. "A whole colony of Clefairy?"

Keria grinned. "Exactly!"

Cascata squealed.

"Keep your voices down!" Flip said, and the two girls instantly became quiet. "Now, let's go. I think it's coming from that direction," he said, pointing off into the darkness.

The three of them began walking as quietly as they could manage, and they found that the voice was indeed growing a bit louder. Dratini, noting that they were leaving, quickly checked another hole and then followed. A Paras, completely unnoticed, poked its head out after, looked around a minute, then returned to its nap.

After a short trip down one of the more curved and narrow passages of the cave, Keria, Flip, Cascata, the Jolteon, and Dratini all poked their heads around the wall separating them from a larger room in the cave. They saw no Clefairy. They continued further into the cave, still listening to the strange song. None of them could doubt now that it was indeed a Clefairy, and they all expected at any moment for the little Pokémon to appear before them.

The singing was very peaceful, actually. Almost hypnotic. Cascata let out a small yawn, but they all continued on, determined to find the fairy Pokémon.

The voice was starting to echo in their ears. "_Clefairy... Clefairy... Clefairy... Cle-_"

"_Groooooo-nix!_"

They all jumped in surprise. Flip found Dratini coiled on his head and Keria found her Jolteon in her arms.

"An Onix!" Keria exclaimed, looking around excitedly. "Where could it be?"

However, before she ever laid eyes on it, the ground began shaking beneath them. Cracks started appearing in the ground, and a stalactite came loose from the ceiling and shattered behind them. The floor caved in beneath them moments before pieces of it went flying up with the head of an Onix, which let out another rumbling roar above them.

"It's enormous!" Cascata squeaked, clinging to Flip for safety.

"It sure is!" Keria said, grinning wildly. "And it shall be mine! Montague, Double Kick!"

The Jolteon leapt up onto the Onix's body and began running as fast as its electric legs could take it. The Onix tried to shake it off, but the Jolteon was more than nimble enough to stay on the giant snake. The Jolteon reached the head and delivered a mighty kick to the left cheek with its hind legs, causing shards of stone to scatter off.

The Onix was able to grab the electric type in two enormous jaws and throw it back to the ground. Keria ran over to where her Pokémon landed only to see it leap back to its feet, still ready to fight. The Onix did not seem to be as willing, however, and burrowed back beneath the cave floor. The tunnel collapsed behind it with a deafening crash, and the Pokémon was gone.

"No!" Keria cried, falling to her knees. "No, no, no, no, _no!_ That wasn't supposed to happen! Agh, it's not fair! Why do all the Onix continue to elude me!"

Flip and Cascata were looking around the collapsed area they had fallen into. "You old trainers," Flip said.

"There will always be more Onix," Cascata finished, mimicking Keria to the best of her ability.

"That's not funny!" the trainer shouted, jumping to her feet. "It's a lot harder to catch an Onix than it is... a..." She trailed off, switching from anger to a blank stare very quickly.

"What is it?" Flip asked. Keria only responded by pointing behind him. He turned around to see what she was staring at.

Lying on a large boulder directly behind him was a Clefairy. "Fair..." it murmured in pain.

The three sat frozen in place for a moment. Then, Flip slowly scooped the little Pokémon into his arms and started looking at it closely.

"I don't believe this!" he said as Cascata peeped over his shoulder. "This a Clefairy! A real Clefairy! I never actually thought I would get to see one, never mind hold one!"

"Is it hurt?" Cascata asked.

"Actually, no. It looks like it's fine. Maybe it bumped its head, though," he said, touching the Pokémon on the forehead.

As if responding to his touch, the Pokémon's eyes fluttered open and its wings flapped a few times. "Clefaaairy," it sang, jumping out of his arms. It rubbed it's head, then looked up at Flip. "Clefaaairy!"

"Hello," he said, smiling at it.

"Clefairy!" it said happily, dancing around a bit. Then, it jumped back on the rock they had found it on, and from there jumped onto Flip's head.

"I think it likes you," Cascata giggled.

"Really?" Flip said, looking up at the fairy Pokémon.

"Fairy fairy!" it sang.

"May I see it?" Keria asked, walking towards them. "This is the first time I've seen a Clefairy and-"

Keria was cut off by the floor collapsing beneath her, causing her to fall straight down. She screamed for a moment, and then was cut offagain by a loud splash.

Flip and Cascata peered down the hole, the Clefairy still resting atop Flip's head. They could only see the dark shape of Keria due to a dim blue glow coming from around her. She looked around a moment, and a few ripples appeared and vanished accompanied with a very small splashing sound. Her head shifted, and now they could see the light reflecting off her eyes since she was looking up at them.

"Uh, do either of you have a rope?"

Flip and Cascata looked at one another. "No," Flip said.

"Sorry!" Cascata called down.

"Perfect. Well, don't just sit there! Find someone who does!" Keria yelled back up. "This water is really cold!"

"How are we supposed to do that?" Flip yelled back.

"There should be other trainers in this cave somewhere. Send your Pokémon to find them! Your flying types should do it in no time!" the voice of Keria echoed from within.

The two stood up. "Alright then. Go, Cira!" Cascata said, throwing a Pokéball to the ground.

"Go, Spazzy!" Flip called, doing the same. The Pidgey and the Zubat appeared beside each other. The Pidgey began preening its feathers while the Zubat began flying in circles.

"You named your Zubat Spazzy?" Cascata asked.

"Yeah," Flip said, holding his arm out for the bat to land on. "It just seemed like a fitting name. Why?"

"Oh, I was just a bit curious, but a name's a name, I guess," she said. "Okay, Cira, I want you to fly around and look for another trainer. When you find them, bring them back here, okay?"

The Pidgey chirped, "Purdge!" and fluttered off.

"Help her out, Spazzy," Flip said, and the Zubat stopped trying to gnaw at its trainer's arm and followed after the bird.

"Your Zubat is a little strange, don't you think?" Cascata said, watching it fly crookedly away.

"A little, yeah, I guess," Flip said. "Of course, things stop seeming very strange when there's a fairy sitting on your head."

"Clefairy!" the Clefairy said, smiling happily and braiding the boy's bangs for no real reason.

"I suppose I should catch this Clefairy, but I get the feeling it's not going to be running off anytime soon. It seems very content where it is," he said, looking up at it.

"It's such a cute Pokémon!" Cascata squealed, rubbing the top of the Clefairy's head.

"Fair fairy!" it laughed.

"It's so rare, and I've heard they can be really strong," Flip said. "I like it. I think I'm going to call this one Sugar. Like a sugarplum fairy, you know."

Cascata laughed. "Cream and Sugar?"

He paused. "Hey, I didn't even think about that. Now all we need is a Pokémon nicknamed Coffee and we'll be all set!"

The two laughed a while before they heard Keria calling from inside the hole.

"_Hey!_" she yelled, trying to get their attention.

"Oh, what is it now, Keria?" Flip asked.

"Guys, this pool of water... I think it may be lined with Moon Stone!"

The two suddenly found themselves staring down the hole again excitedly. "Seriously!" Cascata asked.

"I can't tell for sure. It's too dark. Montague, do you think you could jump down for me?" her voice echoed.

"Joul-teon!" he called. The Jolteon had been sitting at the edge of the hole from the moment Keria fell down it. Without a second thought, the electric Pokémon jumped down into the hole.

As soon as he reached the bottom, the entire cave Keria was floating in lit up with the Jolteon's light and glowed a mystic greenish blue. There was no doubt about it now, even for Flip and Cascata. The cave was completely lined in a sheet of Moon Stone.

"This is incredible," she said to herself as the Jolteon swam over and beganlicking her face. "My father once told me that the largest piece of the Moon Stone meteorite was the core, and that it had been shattered by a large explosion of some sort back when he was a trainer! He said that after that had been destroyed, the largest piece that exists on earth was only about the size of a basketball." She hugged her Jolteon close. "This means enormous things! If we could miss a piece of the meteorite that's this big, buried deep in the heart of Mount Moon..."

"And if a fossil like the Lunadrago could go undiscovered for so long..." Flip spoke, looking up at Cascata.

"What else could be hidden in this mountain?" Cascata finished.

Keria looked around in the chamber as she pocketed the Moon Stone. "It's so beautiful..." She noticed something strange that seemed to have been embedded on either side in the Moon Stone lining. The girl squinted a bit, and then let out a small gasp.

The mystery objects seemed to be bones, and they arranged themselves in a pattern that looked like massive wings. She turned around, and saw the skeleton of what appeared to be an enormous dragon. There were some missing with the indents of where they had been left behind as the biggest clue that they had fallen out, and the ribs only poked out a little since they had been eroded by the water.

Before she could yell to the others, something else caught her attention. At the very bottom of the pool, there were some of the missing bones, Moon Stones, pieces of something thin and white, and what appeared to be old coins. Keria took a deep breath and dived under the water to take a look at the debris without the surface distorting the view. It was still somewhat unclear, so she swam close and picked up one of the coins in her hand only to discover it was a soft decayed scale of some sort, a very dull and faded blue. She admired it for a bit before dropping it and moving onto one of the white shards. She nearly let go of her breath as she realized it was a piece of eggshell. Her mind started humming with joy as she began thinking about how labs in Cinnabar had reconstructed Pokémon from DNA from fossils. Keria found a piece of the eggshell large enough to fit over her head, and as she lifted it up to get a better look at it she saw something beneath it that made her know she needed to take another breath. Her head returned to the surface and she gasped for air.

"Did you find something, Keria?" Cascata asked.

"_Yes!_" she yelled before diving again. She lifted her find up in both hands as she resurfaced a second time, turning it over and finding it was in absolutely perfect condition. Her breaths became rapid, and she could feel her heart racing with excitement.

"Keria, what's that? It almost looks like..." Flip said, trying to make out what the object was.

Keria held it close to her body. "This is possibly the greatest thing I've ever found in my four years of training Pokémon! This is... I don't believe this!" She held it up in both hands. "This is an ancient Pokémon egg!"

* * *

The wind brushed through the rough, thin grasses that surrounded him on all sides. He took in a deep breath of fresh air and let out a long, contented sigh as he mentally noted what a nice day it was. Clouds had begun moving in, but these were all too light and thin to not be torn by the wind every time they seemed to be clumping together. The sun had already reached its peak in the sky for the day and was well on its way back down, and he had a feeling that in a few hours or so he wouldn't welcome the cool breeze as much as he did now. Below the sky was a lush green bed of treetops, and at one place on the horizon he could start to see the ocean beyond. Somewhere far off, a bird Pokémon of some sort let the world hear its song.

"Perfect day for a nap," he yawned, stretching his arms out across the grass. With that said, he closed his eyes and listened to the wind.

"Grow growl! Gro-oowlithe!" a Pokémon barked from beside him. His eyes opened again to see an excited looking Growlithe with its tail wagging starting to tug on the corner of his long brown coat, giving a clear message that it wanted to play. He grinned and looked around quickly. An ordinary stick was located, so he picked it up, waved it around for the puppy to see, then threw it forward. He sat up so he could watch the Growlithe retrieve it.

Something green dangled in front of his vision. A blade of the grass somehow had made its way into his bangs, so he pulled it off and allowed it to be swept up by the next breeze. His hair was completely black except for the bright shines and, oddly enough, the same seemed to be for the irises of his eyes. He thought back for a brief moment to when he was much younger and would sometimes wonder why his eyes were so dark. He quickly pulled his mind back in, deciding that he would play with his Growlithe now and let his mind wander off again later.

The fire puppy trotted back to him, holding the stick in his mouth ready to be thrown again. It showed no reluctance in letting go of it, though the boy did when he realized the stick had caught on fire. The Growlithe caught it again, fire and all, and brought it back once more.

"Maybe it would be a better idea to not have a fire Pokémon retrieve flammable objects," he remarked, rubbing the Growlithe on the top of its head and taking the stick from it by the very end where the fire had not spread yet. He tossed it onto the sand-covered path. "Hey, could you go kick some dirt on it, Pax?"

The Growlithe jumped up eagerly and ran over to the stick, picking it up again and starting to head back to its owner.

"No, Pax, go back," he ordered. "Yeah, right there. Now drop it."

The Pokémon cocked its head slightly, trying to understand. It placed the stick back on the ground and looked at it before turning back towards the human, tail still wagging excitedly.

"Now kick some dirt on it. Good. Okay, now kick _more_ dirt on it. Yes, like that. Good boy!" the owner commanded, dictating every step to the puppy.

It didn't mind that it didn't understand what was going on since it must have been doing something well to be called a good boy. Dirt flew through the air behind it, and the flame was smothered. The Growlithe barked again and ran back onto the grass, jumping on the boy's chest and making him fall backwards the short distance into the grass. He rubbed its head, and for a while the two just sat there while the human's thoughts went back into space again.

They crashed back to the ground swiftly and suddenly when his Growlithe returned to having all paws on the grass and growled at the nearby cave entrance. The Pokémon started barking loudly as a Zubat flew out in a jerking manner.

"Ignore it, Pax, there's a million more inside the cave," he sighed, picking up a long blade of grass and observing it.

However, despite his relative relaxed attitude about the Pokémon, he still jumped up and yelled in surprise when it dropped in his lap and started snapping at his knees.

The Zubat returned to the air immediately, and the Growlithe leapt at it in a failed attempt to stop it. The human just watched in a somewhat stunned manner, trying to figure out what had gotten into this Pokémon, until he heard something else coming from the cave. A Pidgey flew out in a more graceful manner than the hyperactive bat and grabbed the bottom of his long coat with its talons in an attempt to pull him towards the cavern's entrance.

"Something's up, Pax," he said, failing to keep his coat away from the bird. "I've never heard of a Pidgey living in a cave. Leave that Zubat alone and come on!"

He ran into the cave as the Pidgey let go and began flying beside him. Pax the Growlithe, more interested in its owner's orders than a crazy Pokémon, was almost instantly right on his heels. The Zubat flew in a few circles and made some screechy squeaking sounds before remembering that it was supposed to come back and diving after the three.

* * *

"Okay, Cassie, here's a thought. You've got that fishing pole of yours that managed to pull Flip out of the river, right? Why not use that?" Keria asked from below, still admiring the egg.

"Well, I considered that, but I don't think it would work. The cave looks too deep for one thing, and... um..." Cascata said, her voice dropping swiftly. "...it only just managed to pull him out, and... he's, well, _smaller_ than you, you know? I don't want to risk breaking the line. Sorry."

They could hear the older sigh even with the great distance between them. "Okay, fine, I get the point, I'm not exactly lightweight. I was already aware of that."

"Sorry!"

"And stop apologizing so much. It's not even your fault."

"Oh! Sorry!"

Keria let out a frustrated sigh. "Cascata..."

"Anyway, how many Moon Stones have you found?" Flip asked, quickly changing the subject.

"There's a lot of them, but not many I can fit in my pockets. We'll have to get these bigger ones out somehow later," Keria said, still hugging onto the egg tightly.

"Pur-gee!" a familiar coo came from the side. Cascata turned and saw her little bird flying back, closely followed by a person wearing a large coat and a Growlithe. In the back, she could see the Zubat every now and then, but not long enough to make out more than its blue wings flapping furiously.

"Oh!" she said, standing up. "Thank goodness! Cira found someone. Hey, you there! Could you help us out?"

The trainer approached to a distance that even the dim light coming from Jolteon in the cave allowed Flip and Cascata to get a good look at him. He towered over the two of them and might have been tall enough to see over the top of Keria's head, though it was difficult to judge exactly without Keria actually being there. The brown coat swept about him like a cape of some sort. The only other noticeable piece of clothing was a red cloth tied around his neck like a camper might have except looser. He gave a very friendly and relaxed smile. "I guess, if I can. What's the problem?" he said, speaking a bit slower and calmer than most.

Flip turned towards the pit. "Our friend fell down a hole."

"Not on purpose, I hope," the trainer said, walking over and looking downwards.

"No, the floor just kinda collapsed beneath her," Cascata explained.

"So, do you have something that could pull her out? Like a rope?" Flip asked, looking back up at the other boy.

"I have something better than a rope," he said, reaching into one of the deep pockets of his coat and pulling out a Pokéball. "Go, Verd!"

A blue toad-like Pokémon with a budding flower on its back appeared from the Pokéball, turning its head towards the cave ceiling and calling "Ivysaaaaur!" It blinked and looked around confused, unaccustomed to the dark.

"Verd, could you reach down with your vines and lift their friend out of that hole?" the boy asked, kneeling to rub his Pokémon's head.

The Ivysaur grinned back and two vines appeared from the base of his flower, extending themselves into the whole and wrapping around the girl's waist. She was somewhat surprised by this, but had the sense to shift the egg so that she was holding it in one arm and wrapping her other arm around the waist of her Jolteon before she was lifted out of the cave pool and set back onto the rough stone floor of the cave. Her Jolteon leapt from her arms and shook itself dry. Water was already forming in pools at her feet, and her clothes clung tightly to her body.

"Ah, thank goodness! I was afraid I was going to be stuck down there all day," she said, using her one free hand to tuck a lock of wet hair behind one ear. "I don't know how to thank you... uh..."

His face turned a bit red and he didn't make eye contact with her. "The name's Lucien. You know, you might want to zip up that vest of yours," he said, still looking somewhat below her face.

"What? Why?" she asked, then gazed downwards and remembered what happens when a white shirt gets wet. Keria let out a surprised yelping sound and turned bright red while fumbling with the wet zipper of her vest with her one free hand.

"Anyway, my name is Flip, and this is Cascata," Flip said, doing his best to avoid looking at the sight.

"Uh huh," Lucien said, not turning to look at either of them.

"And her name is Keria."

"Uh huh."

"We're all Pokémon trainers, though Keria's the only one with much experience."

"Uh huh."

"We've been getting a lot of stuff in here, have you? Cascata and I both have caught some new Pokémon, and the cave Keria fell into is full of Moon Stones."

"Uh huh."

"By the way, a Mankey flew by here about an hour ago. You might want to be careful. He had a robotic arm and looked like he was trained in deadly ninja arts."

"Uh huh."

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying."

"Uh huh."

"Which I suppose means Keria is having trouble with the zipper on her vest."

"Uh huh." Lucien said, right before Keria hit him in the head.

"Well, at least he was honest," Cascata said, holding a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop giggling.

"Alright, look that way," Keria snapped, forcing Lucien's head to point off to the side. "And hold this." She pushed the Pokémon egg into his arms, allowing her to use her left hand again and zip up the vest.

"What are you so upset about? You should be proud of your body. I was merely enjoying your beauty for as long as I could, just as one would pause to observe artwork. Is it not natural for one to do such?" Lucien said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

She finished closing her vest and took the egg back from him. "A girl's diary might be a literary masterpiece, but that still doesn't give you a right to read it. If you really think so highly of my chest, you should respect it and not stare."

Lucien sighed. "Ah, well, I suppose you're right. Now, then, would you people care to join me for lunch?"

Keria blinked in surprise. "Wait, what?"

He smiled and turned towards Flip and Cascata. "I'm sure I could make enough food for all of us, although I admit I hadn't planned any company today."

"We'd love to!" Cascata said, hugging her Pidgey.

"Yeah, thanks. But first there's some big moonstones Keria wanted to get out of the cave as well." Flip said, his Zubat chewing contently on his shoulder.

"Ah, no problem! Verd should be able to lift them out, right?" Lucien said, looking down.

"Saaaaur!" Verd cheered, shaking the plant on his back.

Lucien looked back up "Though I expect to get at least one of them. You know, as payment of some sort."

"Oh, sure, no problem!" Flip responded. "We're just happy to have some help. In fact, you can have the biggest one!"

As they set to work, Keria stood off to the side, still somewhat surprised. "Lucien, huh? He's without a doubt a pervert, and yet he's polite, admitted he was wrong, wasn't angry or disappointed at all... he even complimented me. Huh." She smirked to herself and held the egg tightly. "This guy definitely has potential."

"Potential for what?" Cascata had walked away from Flip and Lucien, and has managed to hear the end of what Keria was saying to herself. "As a Pokémon trainer?"

Keria laughed. "Ah, Cascata, you're more young and naive than I thought. But I'm sure you'll soon realize that there are some better catches out there than any Pokémon."

Cascata puzzled over this for a moment. "So, you mean... Lucien has the potential to catch these better things?"

"Not quite," Keria chuckled, shaking her head. Cascata walked away, still very confused.

Flip and Lucien were sitting on either side of the hole, watching as the Ivysaur pulled the first large Moon Stone out of the darkness. It had to be at least three feet in diameter. Lucien whistled to show he was impressed.

"Amazing. Absolutely amazing. This one alone has got to be worth a fortune. Sell it and you could live like royalty." Lucien said, taking it from the Ivysaur's vines and setting it on the ground. He ran a hand across the smooth, wet surface. "You guys are probably the luckiest people alive."

"You're telling me! And you saw that egg Keria found, right? Museums and labs alike are probably going to offer more money than any of us has ever seen for it. Though she probably won't part with it for any small sum of money anyway, and I don't blame her," Flip said, gazing off into the cave. "Oh, and we won't just be rich, either. These are the biggest Moon Stones that have been seen in years. We'll be famous!"

Lucien looked up. "Fame and fortune. The dream of so many who walk this planet. Wonder if it's as nice as everyone imagines it."

"Hey, guys?" Cascata asked, looking around with a worried expression. "Do you hear that?"

Flip and Lucien looked at each other. "Hear what, Cascata?" Flip asked.

"You mean that buzzing sound?" Keria said, standing up. "Yeah, I noticed that a while ago. You can hear it very well from inside that hole. I think it might be miners drilling."

Cascata shook her head. "No, not that! I mean that rumbling! Listen!"

They all stopped talking at once, and the buzzing Keria had mentioned was suddenly underlined by a very low rumbling sound, and it wasn't too hard to tell that they were coming from the same source. Not to mention that it was getting louder. A single tiny stone dislodged itself from the ceiling and dropped into the hole, creating a faint splash sound. Then a larger one fell off to the side of the large ditch they had been standing in. They became aware that this was happening all around them, and the smaller ones began jumping off the ground as soon as they landed. Everything around them was vibrating.

"Guys, I think we should run," Cascata said, starting to back towards the general direction of the exit.

"Considering the cave is collapsing, yes, that'd be smart," Lucien said with only the smallest hint of worry in his voice as he stood up.

The four and their Pokémon started to run as a stalactite broke off from the ceiling and plummeted, narrowly missing Flip and hitting the second large Moon Stone. It broke into many pieces, the largest of which being knocked back into the hole and crashing against the side. They started heading towards an exit only to watch it cave in before them and swiftly ran to another. Chunks of the ceiling were falling on every side. Further on the floor collapsed beneath Cascata's foot and sent her plummeting into some cavern below.

"Cass!"

Flip leapt after her, ignoring any kind of common sense, and he was followed by Keria, Lucien, and then the Pokémon. This cave was collapsing even more than the one above. They were surrounded by chaos, made even more intimidating by the scattered way the Jolteon's light hit the surfaces of the things around them. They started panicking until they noticed it was pierced by the distant light of an exit.

"Over there!"

"Let's go!"

The last sprint was by far the hardest with the cave threatening to completely fall apart at any moment. Keria let out a shriek as a large rock collided into her left arm and she immediately slowed down a lot, focusing more on not dropping the egg than escaping with her life. Lucien spun around in response and scooped her up in his arms, making a frenzied dash for the exit as the ceiling started to completely break away behind them. The group finally ran into the open sunlight, but Flip tripped over something and caused the others to fall on top of him. A cloud of dust came from behind as the rock behind them shifted and the tunnel caved in. Pax was the first to get up and immediately starting licking his trainer's face.

"Hey! Someone just ran out of the cave!" a voice called out as the group started to slowly lift themselves up again.

"What? That's impossible! We closed off that tunnel from both ends!" a second voice said, and a miner appeared, standing atop a nearby boulder. "What? Agh, not more crazy trainers! You could've gotten yourselves killed!"

Flip looked up from beneath the pile, his face covered in dirt. "Did you make the cave collapse?"

The miner puffed out his chest. "Well, yeah! Not on purpose, mind you, but there was bound to be some damage to this cave since we were mining so close."

Keria jumped to her feet suddenly, knocking everyone around her off to the side. "Well, you caused a lot more than just this one cave in! We weren't anywhere near this one, but the cave we were in started to collapse, too, and while we were running out we fell from above into this one! Didn't it even occur to you the effects might be more spread out than one little tunnel?"

"Our apologies, miss," the first voice came again, and a second miner appeared, this one considerably younger. "I told him his calculations were off when he was figuring out the area of effect, but he wouldn't listen."

The older miner crossed his arms and growled, "Oh, sure, blame it on me. Besides, these kids are probably lying! Come on, we've got work to do." With that, he walked off, leaving the younger miner to just shake his head.

"Well, you still have my apologies," he said, laughing slightly. "Are you alright? Oh, miss, your arm!"

She winced a bit as she looked at it. It had been scraped fairly badly. "Ah, yeah, I know. Wait, if my arm was hurt this much, then... eep! The egg!" She began turning it over in her hands, inspecting it carefully.

Flip stood up and looked behind him at the rubble that blocked what had been the cave entrance. "The Moon Stones..."

"Fairy," the Clefairy said, sitting on his shoulder and patting the back of his head to comfort him.

Cascata stood up. "I know, Flip, but there's nothing we can do about them now. They're buried in there somewhere."

The miner looked confused. "What Moon Stones are you talking about?"

Lucien shook his head. "Ah, don't ask right now. Come on, we really ought to do something about her arm."

"Thank goodness!" Keria said, hugging the egg tightly. "Not a single crack. I want this to stay perfect."

"Keria, remember that it's just an old egg," Lucien said, taking off the cloth around his neck. "And you almost let yourself get crushed back there for it. How about getting your priorities in order, hmm?" He took the red piece of fabric and tied it tightly around the wound.

"Excuse me if I don't think well on my feet, okay!" she snapped, pulling her arm away quickly. "You know as well as I do that there's no chance I'll ever find another egg like this, and at the time I still thought I would be able to make it outside in time! I'm not perfect, you know!"

He just shook his head and laughed. "Awfully defensive, aren't we? I never accused you of being perfect. I'm just saying that there are better things to die for than an egg."

Keria glared at him for a moment before turning away. "Look, I already told you, I don't think well on my feet. Would you just leave me alone about it?"

"You know, you're getting really upset over someone being concerned about you," Lucien said, suddenly changing his expression to a much more serious one. "I help you out of that hole, I save you from being crushed by rocks, and I bandage your arm and tell you to be a little more careful. And I get this. Not a word of thanks, just anger."

"First off, I already thanked you for helping me out of the hole! Second, I didn't need your help to get out of the cave in time!" she shouted back. "Yeah, you're right, it wasn't smart of me to hold onto the egg, but it wasn't like we made it out just in the nick of time!"

"Oh, my mistake, then, since you obviously would have made it out with that whole extra half-second between when we got out of the cave and when it collapsed. But I wasn't asking for your gratitude, just for you to listen to what I'm saying without taking it as some sort of attack on your character!" he snapped.

"Then stop giving me such a hard time about that one mistake!"

"I'm _not_ giving you a hard time!"

"That's enough, you two!" Flip said, causing the two to turn towards him. "Just drop it. Relax. We just lost an enormous find and we almost lost our lives. It's only natural for you guys to be worked up. But the last thing we need right now is for you both to make things worse by arguing over nothing. So just let it be."

The two looked at each other for a moment before turning away in frustration.

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"Good. Now I want you to kiss and make up, just to be sure this doesn't start again," Flip said, crossing his arms.

"_What!_" Keria demanded.

"Hmm? I thought you'd agree to that solution," Flip responded, tilting his head slightly.

"And what, exactly, gave you _that_ idea!" she stammered, her face starting to turn red.

"Oh, come on, do you think I'm deaf? I could hear you talking to yourself about Lucien's potential as a boyfriend."

"Is that what she meant?" Cascata asked. "Ah, I get it now!"

Lucien grinned. "Why, Keria, I'm flattered. Why didn't you say something? If I had thought that all this anger was just the manifestation of your feelings for me..."

She backed away from the others. "Will you all cut it out? I was _considering_ him. I wasn't pledging my undying love for him. How's a girl supposed to find true love if she doesn't explore all her feelings, great or small?"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Ah, but you admit you have feelings for me! So, tell me, do they fall in the great category or the small category?"

"Currently, they're dropping into the negatives," Keria said through clenched teeth.

"Excuse me," the young miner said, approaching them again, "but I've just thought of a way to make up for the trauma we've caused you all. We're going to be quitting for the day in a little while, and perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner when we do. I might even be able to convince the others to let you all spent the night at our campsite."

"Is it that late already?" Cascata asked.

Lucien turned his head towards the horizon. "I'd say based on the sun's position, there'll be a little over an hour of daylight left, maybe two. Definitely not enough time to reach either Pewter City or Cerulean City. And I don't know about any of you, but I'm not the sort of person who'd pass up a free dinner."

Flip nodded. "I think we can all agree on that last point."

* * *

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh, come on!" the younger miner pleaded to the older one. "It's not like we don't have enough food anyway. And it was our fault..."

"For the last time, it wasn't! It was their own for being there. I'll not share my meal with some dumb trainers who can't stay out of trouble!" the man bellowed angrily. The shouts of the other miners rose to show they were on the older miner's side.

Flip and his friends had backed awkwardly into the corner of the tent while the two argued. He shook his head. "Maybe this wasn't a great idea after all." The other three nodded in agreement.

The younger miner slammed his hand down on the table he and the other miner were standing over. "It's not fair! You know as well as I do that they're not making it up! They were almost killed because of a stupid mistake on our part, and the least we can do is give them something to eat for dinner!"

"When you become my boss, you can decide what's fair and what's not! Until then, we're not eating with these kids!" the older miner shouted.

"Alright, I can't take this anymore," Lucien said, stepping forward. "Sir, you carry Pokéballs on your belt, so you must be something of a trainer yourself. Battle with me. If I win, we get dinner. If you win, we leave right away and never bother you again."

The man snorted. "Huh! And why should I? This is my tent, and I could throw you out right now."

Lucien shrugged. "Alright, then. I assumed you weren't a coward, but, meh, we all make mistakes, I suppose."

"Coward!" the man snarled.

"You heard me. Only a coward would be afraid to take up a challenge from a 'dumb trainer' like myself," Lucien said calmly, turning to leave.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" the older growled under his breath, nearly knocking the other miner to one side.

"No. But I do know I'm not a coward," Lucien said.

"Alright, that's it! You want a battle, kid? Fine! You'll regret the day you challenged me!"

Cascata whispered to Keria, "Does Lucien know what he's doing? That miner's probably been training his Pokémon for years."

Keria turned away in thought. "Well, experience helps, but training for longer doesn't guarantee a better trainer. On the other hand, it doesn't seem like a well thought-out plan. Lucien seems awfully confident, though, which could be either a really good or really bad thing."

Lucien smiled. "Well, then, let's step outside, shall we? I think a one-on-one battle should do. I wouldn't want my dinner to get cold."

"Cocky punk! Let's go!"

The two stepped outside the tent, followed by the other miners who had begun hooting and hollering already. The young miner stayed behind a moment, waiting for the other three trainers who hadn't budged yet.

"I'm sorry about this," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I would have never suggested dinner if I knew the other miners were going to be so against it."

"It's not your fault," Flip said, letting Dratini climb up onto his shoulders again. "We'd better go and see how this turns out."

As the four walked out of the large tent, they could see Lucien and the miner were already in their appropriate positions on either side of an area more than large enough to accommodate as a battle field. The miners were already cheering for their companion, who confidently ripped a Pokéball from its place on his belt.

"Come on, Makuhita! We'll teach this kid who he shouldn't mess with!" he shouted, hurling the Pokéball to the ground.

The fat little Pokémon appeared, punching its fists together and posing to indicate it was ready to battle. Lucien paused for a moment, then reached into one of his large pockets for a Pokéball.

"This shouldn't be too hard. Go, Tarn!" Lucien said, tossing out the ball in an unusually casual manner. A Rhyhorn appeared and stomped the ground, causing the Makuhita to lose its footing.

On the side, Keria let out a loud sigh. "Why did he have to choose a rock type? Rhyhorn's odds of victory are a lot lower than Ivysaur's or Growlithe's, and it looks like it's had about the same amount of experience as that Makuhita. This could be a very short battle."

"Have a bit of confidence in him, Keria," Flip said. "We don't know how they compare as trainers."

"I've got my fingers crossed for him, because his ability as a trainer is probably what this battle's going to come down to. However, the fact that he chose a Rhyhorn against a fighting type when he has better Pokémon for this situation is already saying something about how good of a trainer he is," she remarked.

The Makuhita stabilized itself, taking on a stance very similar to that of a sumo wrestler, and awaited its first command. The miner called out, "Makuhita, Arm Thrust!" and the Pokémon charged at its opponent.

"Tarn, Fury Attack!" Lucien called, and the Rhyhorn began to charge as well.

When the Pokémon both reached the middle of the field, the Rhyhorn lowered its head and mauled the Makuhita with its horn. This caused the Makuhita to be tossed into the air, which it used to its advantage by coming crashing down on the Rhyhorn's head with its extended arm. The Rhyhorn attempted to gore the Makuhita, but the fighting type leapt out of the way and punched with the other arm. It was smacked off to the side by a heavy stone leg of the Rhyhorn, still continuing its attack by landing a third hit on the large beast. The larger Pokémon swung around clumsily and smashed the side of its horn into the Makuhita's head.

Keria was still shaking her head as the two Pokémon brawled. "I told you. He's losing."

The Rhyhorn was knocked back by a fifth punch and was starting to take in longer, deeper breaths. Luckily, the Makuhita's attack rush seemed to have stopped. So had the Rhyhorn's, and he had landed fewer hits. The miner laughed.

Lucien closed his eyes. "This battle's not over yet. Tarn, use Stomp!"

"Makuhita, Vital Throw!"

The Rhyhorn raised up on its back legs for a moment before crashing down with its front legs on the Makuhita. The Makuhita stumbled a bit, and almost seemed as if it was going to fall over, but quickly recovered and grabbed the Rhyhorn by the horn on its nose. It lifted the heavy Pokémon off the ground with an incredible feat of strength and began swinging it around in a circle. When it gained enough momentum, it released the Rhyhorn which was sent flying into a steep side of the mountain. The Rhyhorn stayed there for a moment, its jagged back having created many cracked holes in the rock for it to be stuck in, and then fell to the ground with a loud thud. It attempted to stand, but its knees buckled and it collapsed with a sigh. The miners cheered.

Lucien was stunned. "But... Tarn..."

Jared laughed proudly. "Hah! I told you. Get out of my sight!"

* * *

The trainers had set their things down in a place a good distance away from the miners' tent. It was on a very wide path that overlooked a peaceful valley between Mount Moon and two other mountains to the north. Off to the side, the mountains curved away just enough to give a wonderful view of the setting sun. The wind had died down a lot and the evening was starting rather warm because of it. A calm buzzing could be heard, though this was not the drill of the miners but the faint, distant noise of bug Pokémon who loved warm evenings like tonight. Everything gave the trainers the impression that summer wasn't too far away.

They sat around a small campfire which snapped and cracked every so often, except for Lucien who was busy digging through his backpack. The fire had a grate suspended above it to hold up whatever they were planning to cook. They had all decided to let their Pokémon out. It was quite a sight. Flip had his three, Dratini, Hazard, and Spazzy, while the Clefairy Sugar had fallen asleep beside him. Cascata's Pokémon were close by, being Wade, Cira, and the newly acquired Cream. Lucien had a contribution of four, being Pax, Verd, Tarn, and a Vaporeon.

"His name is Rio," Lucien had said when the blue Eevee evolution had first appeared before them.

Keria's Pokémon were a large contrast to the many unevolved ones the others owned. There was Brenner, Sandy, and Montague, as well as an Arbok and a Lapras which none of the others had met before.

"The Arbok is Redda, and the Lapras is Nentes," she said, rubbing the head of the massive snake.

"Keria, just out of curiosity, why do you only have five?" Cascata asked. "Most of the trainers who are at tournament level have full teams..."

Keria paused as if in deep thought. "If you must know, the sixth slot is reserved."

"For what?"

"It's a secret," she said.

"Why?"

"Why would I tell you if it's a secret?" Keria responded, smirking.

Lucien pulled an iron pot out of his backpack. "Here we go. I'll have to wash it off, but it should be large enough that I can make us all dinner. It's been a while since I've cooked for anyone but myself."

"Really? Then you've been traveling alone?" Flip asked.

"Since the day I became a trainer," he said.

"Most trainers do," Keria explained. "I traveled with some people for the first two years, but I decided that in some cases the company is worse than no company."

"You've got that right," Lucien said, standing up with the pot. "I've been eagerly awaiting the day my little brother is old enough to become a trainer, to tell the truth, just so I can have someone to travel with."

Cascata smiled. "Oh, you have a little brother? I love little kids!"

Lucien grinned. "Yeah. His name is Adrien. He's still got three years before he can become a trainer." He stared off toward the setting sun for a bit, watching it disappear. "Anyway, I'm going to go wash off this pot and fill it with some water. I'll be right back." He turned and headed back up the path to where they had passed a stream.

"You know, I'm kind of impressed," Flip said. "Lucien lost a battle and has been talking about how he's been traveling alone, yet he still hasn't seemed very sad about any of it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that second one. There was a hint of sadness in his voice when he was talking about his brother. It wasn't obvious, but I'm sure it was there," Keria spoke, looking off in direction Lucien had left. "But, I'm also impressed with how he's coped with losing that battle. It's almost like it never even happened." She folded her arms. "I just hope he cares a _little_. Losses are an excellent opportunity to learn from your mistakes and become a better trainer."

The other two nodded in agreement but said nothing. A silence descended upon them as the sun vanished behind the mountains, throwing the valley completely into shadow. There was still a large orange area in the sky surrounding the spot where the sun was last seen, but in the sky above the opposite end of the valley everything had turned a dark shade of indigo which was just bordering on the black it would be soon. The other mountains had golden light covering one side and total darkness on the other.

"...pretty..." Cascata murmured to herself as she looked out over the view.

"Hey, guys. Sorry that took so long," Lucien said, balancing the pot carefully to make sure no water splashed out. "So, any requests for dinner?"

"Ah, well," Cascata said, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm kind of a picky eater. I'd prefer something without onions, or peppers, or mushrooms. But, don't worry about me! I can always just pick them out. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all."

"Oh, don't worry. That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Lucien laughed.

"You'll probably like them more as you get older," Keria said, as her Jolteon jumped into her lap and started rubbing against her. "in the meantime, don't be ashamed. I personally have never found myself fond of any sort of seafood."

"I think I might the biggest problem here, anyway," Flip said. "I don't eat meat."

Cascata was surprised. "At all?"

"At all."

She stared for a moment then smiled. "Cool! I never would have thought you were a vegetarian. I considered it once. It _is_ kind of sad to think about where it comes from."

Flip shook his head. "True, but that's not why I'm a vegetarian."

"Oh? Then why? Is it healthier?" she asked.

"No, that has nothing to do with it either."

"Well, then, why?"

"It's better for the environment."

"Oh," she said, then thought about this with a puzzled expression on her face. "It is?"

"Sure. The second law of thermodynamics states that whenever heat energy is converted, some of this energy is lost as low-quality heat. So, the amount of energy available at each trophic level is less than the level below it, and the typical ecological efficiency is only ten percent. If the producers have ten thousand kilocalories available for usage, then the primary consumers will have one thousand, and the secondary consumers will have one hundred, and the tertiary consumers will have ten," he explained.

Cascata blinked. "_What?_"

Keria laughed. "I know what he's talking about. Here, look," she said, picking up a stick off the ground and drawing two rectangles. She began drawing little symbols that looked like wheat in one of them and a few Miltank in the other. "Let's say you use a piece of land to grow crops, and another to raise cattle. The land with the crops will provide a lot of food for us, whereas the land used for grazing will provide a lot of food for the cattle, who in turn will provide less food for us. Flip already said that the typical ecological efficiency is ten percent, meaning that ninety percent of that energy is lost as you move up on the food chain. So, for the same amount of land we produce less food by raising meat instead of plants."

She looked at the pictures. "I think I get it. Um..."

Keria shrugged and dropped the stick. "It's not the easiest concept to understand. Besides, agriculture itself has a lot of environmental downsides as well. Fertilizers and pesticides getting into the water, salinization, soil erosion..." Keria said.

"Sounds like someone's planning on becoming a farmer," Lucien remarked, beginning to cut up some carrots into the pot.

"I considered it once, actually. Raising Pokémon on a ranch, growing berries... I might still do it someday," she said.

"It sounds like it'd be a nice life," Cascata said, leaning forward and resting the side of her chin against her fist. "Living away from the stress of the city, beautiful scenery and fresh air, spending all that time with Pokémon..."

Keria added under her breath with a strange grin on her face, "A husband coming home covered in sweat from doing chores..."

"Huh? What'd you say, Keria?" Cascata asked.

"Oh, nothing!" Keria said, lifting her egg off the spot on the ground where she had left it. "Huh, that's odd."

"What is it?" Flip asked.

"This egg. I guess I had it too close to the fire, because it's a lot warmer than before," she said, resting a hand on it.

Cascata touched it. "Odd. You think it means something?"

"Well, probably that I'm insane, considering I almost died because I wouldn't drop, and here I am putting it close enough to the fire to cook it. Speaking of which," she said, pausing a moment to put her thoughts in order. "Lucien, I'm sorry I didn't say this earlier, but thanks. You _did_ save me back there."

He looked surprised. "Huh? Oh, right, that. Well, you're welcome. Though I still think you really should have dropped the egg."

"Don't start that again!" Flip said, glaring at Lucien.

"No, he's right," Keria sighed. "I'm sorry about getting so upset back there, too. I can have a short fuse sometimes."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, you're cute when you're angry. Oh, by the way, we never kiss and made up," he said, flashing a large grin in her direction.

She closed her eyes. "Didn't I just tell you I have a short fuse?"

"And didn't I just tell you you're cute when you're angry?"

Keria fumed a bit before changing the subject. "So, how long do you think dinner will take?"

"Might be a bit. And don't expect anything gourmet. I have plenty of vegetables. Normally I'd have some hotdogs for all of us but Flip to skewer and cook over the fire, but Pax and I finished them off last night. Still, I think I have some rice that could help make the meal a bit more filling," Lucien said, locating the bag of rice and pulling it out of his backpack.

"It's kind of surprising. You don't meet many people who can cook these days," Cascata said. "I guess it's useful when you're a trainer, right?"

"Yes, it can be quite difficult when you can't," Keria said. "I couldn't cook for a while, and things became rather difficult. I had to find routes between towns that took less than a day, or I would have to calculate how many days it would take and pack food accordingly. And if something caused me to take longer than normal... well, it's not fun to sleep on an empty stomach. Eventually I started teaching myself to cook, but I'm still pretty bad at it unless I'm in a kitchen with a recipe."

"It does take a lot of practice, just like many other things," Lucien said as he finished adding to the pot and placed it on the grate above the fire.

"Like battling!" Cascata said in her normal cheery tone, before noticing Lucien froze when she said that. "Oh! Uh, sorry! I didn't mean it like that, really!"

He laughed, though this time there was almost a pained sound to it. "No, no, it's alright. I never want to admit it, but I've always had trouble with Pokémon battles. It's the one part of Pokémon training I never got the hang of."

"You know, perhaps we could help eachother," Keria said. "You've heard of me being a prodigy, right?"

"Huh? You mean..." Lucien said, studying her face. "Oh! You're _that_ Keria? Strange. I read something that said you committed suicide after your loss."

Her eye twitched. "I assure you it was a rumor, as I am still alive. At least, I _think_ I am."

"Good to hear!"

"Anyway, despite that embarrassing loss at the Pewter City gym, I'm as talented at raising and battling Pokémon as they all originally thought I would," Keria explained.

"She's also very humble, too," Flip added sarcastically.

"Silence!" she shouted at Flip as she pointed a finger at him. She then regained her composure and continued. "As I was saying, despite this, I'm still rather bad at fending for myself, and I've always had to stick closer to civilization than I would like. Why don't the two of us travel together for a while? I could help teach you to be a better battler, and you could teach me to be a better cook, and perhaps some other survival skills you might know. If you've been traveling alone for so long, then you're bound to know a few."

"Sounds intriguing. Could I also teach you to be a better kisser?" he asked eagerly.

"No."

"Fine, fine. _You_ can teach _me_."

"That's not what I meant!"

Lucien sighed. "You drive a hard bargain. Tell you what. Tomorrow, we'll battle and you show me you're as good as battling as you say you are. If you win, I'll train you in the ancient art of cooking something edible."

"The things I do for dinner. Alright, sounds good."

Flip shook his head. "Are you sure it would be wise for the two of you to travel together? You don't seem to get along very well."

Keria laughed. "I put up with someone a lot worse than him in every way for two years. I can tolerate him long enough to learn how to fend for myself."

* * *

The night had passed without incident, and by the time Flip had woken up the next morning Keria and Lucien were already getting ready to have their battle. Lucien had his back to the campsite, and Keria was walking away from him to create enough distance between them for the battle. It was going to be farther than most, to accommodate for the fact that the width of the path made it a narrower battlefield than normal. She turned around when she felt there was enough room.

"Okay, then, to make this a real test of our skills, we'll use four Pokémon each. And I'll even let you pick which member of my team I can't use. Does that sound fair?" Keria said.

"Sure," he responded. "Uh... Charizard. You can't use Charizard."

"Okay, then. Before we start, may I ask you something?" Keria asked.

"Sure, anything!"

"What made you decide on the Charizard?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's the one you started with, so I'm guessing it's your strongest. Why?"

She folded her arms. "Just trying to understand how your mind works in terms of battle tactics. If I'm going to be helping you, I have to identify where your problem areas are. And I can already tell one of your biggest ones. You don't think much about type match-ups, do you?"

"Not really, no. Come on, let's get this battle started!"

"Fine," Keria said with her typical sigh, and she pulled out a Pokéball. She kissed it and threw it onto the battlefield. "Go, Montague!"

The Jolteon appeared in a flash of light and cried out, "Jow-olteon!" Its spikes bristled with electricity, and it dragged its paw against the ground twice like a Tauros might before charging.

Lucien gave his opponent a strange look. "You kiss your Pokéballs before you throw them?"

Keria grinned. "Of course! A kiss for luck for all my Pokémon!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Some prodigy you are! I don't understand why someone who's supposed to be a great trainer would believe in such superstitions."

She shrugged helplessly. "Hey, there's no harm in it, right? I mean, luck's rarely on my side and I fight with skill anyway, but a little good luck never hurt anyone! And even if it doesn't work, I love my Pokémon and don't mind giving them a kiss!"

He shook his head and pulled out a Pokéball of his own. "Whatever. Your Jolteon's going down! Go, Tarn!"

The Rhyhorn appeared, but the Jolteon wasn't as shaken up by its appearance as the Makuhita had been. The electricity vanished from its fur, possibly already recognizing that it would be worthless in a fight against a ground type, and the spikes attempted to flatten themselves against its body.

"Hey, he didn't make as bad a choice this time," Cascata remarked.

Flip sat down along the side to watch. "Actually, the Ivysaur probably would've been a better choice, I think."

She looked down at him. "Huh? Why's that?"

"Just keep watching."

"Tarn, use Horn Attack!" Lucien called.

"Montague, Flash," Keria commanded.

The Jolteon responded the moment the words left Keria's mouth, and the spikes around his neck all flared outwards again. Sparks rippled through them, and then for a split second light flashed from the Jolteon's spikes, though unlike in the cave this was concentrated into a single blinding beam pointed straight into the Rhyhorn's face. While this happened, the Rhyhorn had been readying a charge but now stumbled around and seemed to have trouble seeing the opponent. It closed its eyes and shook its head a few times, then charged at the electric type, managing only to scrape against its back leg with the tip of the horn.

Keria clenched her fist. "Okay, Montague, now use your Double Kick!"

"Double Kick!" Lucien repeated, knowing very well how much that would damage his Rhyhorn. "Quick, Tarn, use Stomp! Maybe it'll flinch!"

"Quick? Do you really think your Rhyhorn can outrun a Jolteon?" Keria taunted.

Montague had already responded to the command, and was running at the Rhyhorn with all the spikes on its body flattened, running like a bolt of lightning. It leapt up and struck with its paw across the Rhyhorn's face, causing small splinters of rock to scatter. The Rhyhorn smacked it with a thick leg, but the Jolteon didn't seem particularly injured by this. It landed and struck the opposite side of the Rhyhorn's head with second kick. The Rhyhorn went tumbling onto its side, waving its legs around in the air to try and right itself. When it did return to its feet, it was panting heavily and seemed to be losing the will to fight quickly.

"I'm starting to see what you mean," Cascata said, taking a seat beside Flip.

"Finish it, Montague!" Keria yelled.

Her Pokémon did a quick nod, then charged into the Rhyhorn with all its strength, causing it to go flying. It skidded to a stop right in front of Lucien's feet. The Jolteon had to shake off the impact but otherwise still seemed ready to fight.

"Ah, Tarn! Not again! Return!" Lucien cried, quickly holding out the Pokéball for the Rhyhorn to be recalled to.

Keria laughed proudly. "Lesson one, Lucien: electric types don't always just have electric type attacks! It's very rare that you'll meet a Jolteon who doesn't use Double Kick. You've got a lot to learn about type match-ups for both Pokémon and their attacks!"

He gritted his teeth. "Not a problem. I can still win this! Let's go, Verd! Start with Sleep Powder!"

"Montague, Quick Attack!"

He threw a second Pokéball onto the field, and the turquoise Pokémon appeared, shaking out the plant on its back. A cloud of sparkling blue powder appeared around the Ivysaur. The Jolteon rushed at the enemy and slammed against it, then flipped back a few feet. Some of the powder could be seen on the white spikes. The Jolteon started to stumble a bit, and then passed out on the battlefield.

"Good job, Verd!"

Keria reached over her shoulder and into her backpack. "Not bad, not bad, but that won't slow us down for long!" She pulled out what looked like a Pokéflute made of blue glass. "Lesson two: be prepared for bad situations! Montague's little nap won't last long thanks to my Blue Flute!" She brought the instrument to her lips and began playing a lively melody. Her Jolteon's ears perked up at the first note, and it began waking up.

"We've still got time to take it out! Verd, Razor Leaf!" Lucien yelled.

The Ivysaur positioned itself with the flower pointed towards the Jolteon. Where the leaves met the stem, one could now see many smaller leaves with edges that gleamed like blades in the sunlight. These launched themselves from the Ivysaur's plant and cut against the Jolteon's body. The Jolteon recoiled in pain, whining "Jolt!"

"Return, Jolteon. I can tell you're still worn out from helping us out in the caves, and there's no need to get you any more hurt than you are right now," Keria said, recalling the Pokémon. She switched the Pokéball with another and gave this one a quick kiss as well before sending it into battle. "Your turn, Redda!"

A large Arbok appeared, coiling itself as if preparing to spring. Its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth, and it hissed, "Chaarbok..." The Ivysaur seemed to quiver in fear for a moment.

"This should be good," Flip commented. "It's harder to judge who has the type advantage in this situation." Cascata nodded quickly.

"Use Acid, Redda!" Keria called.

"Verd, Vine Whip!"

The snake lowered its head and released a spray of acid from its mouth. It covered the Ivysaur, causing an unpleasant hissing sound and a whimper of pain. Two vines extended themselves, wrapped themselves around the Arbok's body and attempted to throw it into the air, but the Arbok was large and the Ivysaur was weakened, so it wasn't enough to inflict much damage.

"Now, Redda, Bite it!"

The Arbok rolled back onto its stomach and slithered toward the plant type. The Ivysaur tried to escape only to run into the Arbok's tail. The snake had slithered around it and now had the other Pokémon trapped by its body. It watched the opponent for a moment, then lunged to bite its leg with gleaming white fangs. The Ivysaur struggled in an attempt to escape, but found the jaws of the Arbok too much and submitted to defeat.

"Verd! Return!" Lucien said, calling back his second Pokémon. He pulled out another one and threw it. "Well, you're definitely skilled, I'll give you that. Go, Rio!"

The Vaporeon appeared with the cool and calm grace that all the Vaporeon tend to have. It flicked its tail and turned its ears a bit, but otherwise did nothing but stare at the Arbok with icy eyes. The Arbok slided back towards the side of the field closer to its trainer and awaited a command.

"Redda, Glare!"

"Rio, Water Gun!"

The Vaporeon bent its front legs to lower its chest closer to the ground, and unleashed a heavy spray of water straight into the face of the serpent. The Arbok stopped, but didn't show much sign of being anything but mildly annoyed by this. Its eyes began to glow with a strange aura, and the Vaporeon froze in place, an occasional shiver running along its back. The Arbok slowly slithered closer, creating a gradual illusion that the difference in size between the two Pokémon was greater than it actually was.

"Wrap, Redda," Keria said softer than before.

"Get away from it, Rio!" Lucien called.

The Vaporeon stood up and turned stiffly to run away from the coils of the snake, but the Arbok moved around it to block its path. Its muscles weren't responding quickly enough to let it get away. Soon the Arbok was tightening its grip around the Vaporeon's body, crushing it.

Lucien could only think of one more thing to do. "Rio, Bite it!"

The Vaporeon opened its mouth wide, revealing a set of sharp teeth, and sunk them into the section of the body closest to it. The Arbok let out a surprised cry and loosened, giving the Vaporeon the chance it needed to slip out. The snake opened its mouth and hissed angrily at the other Pokémon, tail lashing about wildly.

"Redda, finish it with Strength!" Keria shouted.

The Arbok glanced about quickly, then dove for a boulder near the edge of the path. Before the paralyzed Vaporeon could act, the Arbok had pushed it out of the ground with the top of its head and sent it rolling straight towards its opponent. There was a loud smack sound as the rock collided with Rio, and the Vaporeon was thrown off towards the edge of the battlefield. It lay there for a moment, making no movement besides taking in slow breaths.

"That's enough, Rio," Lucien sighed, letting his Vaporeon return to the Pokéball. "This looks bad. But, I've still got Pax! Let's go!" he shouted, throwing his fourth Pokéball on the ground.

The Growlithe leapt onto the battle field eagerly and barked, "Grow!" at the large snake. It wagged its tail and seemed completely unafraid of the Arbok.

"Use your Flame Wheel!"

The Growlithe took a deep breath in, then released a spinning circle of fire at the Arbok. The snake Pokémon embraced itself for the hit, but hadn't expected it to be quite so strong. It fell over, screaming from the burns, and the Growlithe rushed towards it and slammed the weight of its small body against the Arbok to finish it off. The Arbok nearly crashed into Keria, who quickly returned it to its Pokéball. The Growlithe, however, fell face first into the ground and received a mouthful of dirt. It stood up and shook itself off.

"Lucien, you've been a good opponent, but not quite good enough," Keria said, taking out a third Pokéball and throwing it onto the field. "Your little puppy doesn't stand a chance against Nentes!"

"Lapraas..." it cried softly as the large Pokémon appeared. It seemed almost completely immobile, since it was obviously designed for battle in the water and not on land, but suddenly a purple aura surrounded its body and it began to float off the ground.

Cascata gasped, "How... ?"

"Didn't you know? All Lapras have psychic powers, though not quite at the level of a Psychic type," Keria explained. "With practice, they can learn to levitate just enough to grant them mobility on land, or speak through telepathy. There are trainers out there who have even been able to teach theirs the Psychic attack."

Flip watched the Lapras with interest. "I heard someone mention something about this, but I never really thought..."

Pax growled at the Lapras. Lucien looked determined. "Psychic powers or not, we can still win. Isn't that right, Pax?" The Growlithe barked again. "Use Take Down!"

"Let's make this quick, Nentes. Hydro Pump!"

The Growlithe began running towards the Lapras, who was already ready with its attack. It stared down at the opponent, then opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of water. The Growlithe yelped as it was pushed far back by the attack. When it was over, Pax lay in a puddle of mud, dazed and whining helplessly. The Lapras lowered itself back to the ground, closing its eyes.

Lucien stood there, dumbfounded.

"That's game," Flip said, standing up. "Keria won this battle by a landslide."

"Well, I suppose that's that. I've lost again." Lucien sighed and rubbed his Growlithe's head. "Good job, Pax. You did very well today. Come on, now..." he said to comfort the puppy before putting it back in the Pokéball.

"See? What did I tell you? There's a lot I can teach you about being a trainer!" Keria said, rubbing her Lapras's neck. "Let's start with that first choice of yours."

"Okay. What was _wrong_ with my choice? I thought I had made a pretty smart decision, not fighting your strongest-"

"Lucien, you were in a situation where the strength of my Pokémon shouldn't have been the major factor. All my Pokémon are a lot stronger than yours and trained to about the same level, though you were correct in assuming Brenner was the strongest of them. However, he would have had a disadvantage against two of your four, and the only one who was weak against him had powder attacks that could have rendered him useless. Nentes, on the other hand, could have taken out your whole team. Your Rhyhorn and Growlithe were weak to his water attacks, and Ivysaur to his ice attacks, and your Vaporeon would have nothing strong to use against him whereas he has Body Slam. Fighting Brenner instead would have at least given you more of a chance. Knowing your weaknesses is the most important thing if you want to win!"

He sighed. "Well, you've definitely proved you're a more skilled trainer than I am, and, you're right, there probably is a lot I can learn from you." He held out his hand for Keria to shake. "I accept your offer. I teach you how to not die of starvation and such when traveling, and you teach me how to win battles."

Keria grabbed it firmly and shook it. "We're partners, then?"

"Partners," Lucien repeated. "Mmm. Yes, I like that. Especially what it could imply."

She sighed. "Not _that_ kind of partners."

"No? Aw."

"I wouldn't mind being friends, however."

He shrugged. "It'll do for now."

"Anyway, we're still going to have to stick around with those two for a while," Keria said, gesturing towards where Flip and Cascata were sitting. They had started packing up their things. "It won't take too long, just until we get to my sister's place. Once we reach there, we can discuss where we want to go next."

He wrapped an arm around her. "Ah, does it matter? Wherever you go, darling, I shall follow!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Didn't I just clarify that we're not _that_ kind of partners?"

He smiled. "Of course. Can't you take a joke?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, sure, I can barely restrain my laughter. Now, please move your arm."

* * *

The four continued on the trail around Mount Moon. There was still another cave between them and their destination, but Cerulean City was already in sight because of their altitude. The day was rather calm, with clouds spread in uneven ripples across the sky and trees slowly waving their branches back and forth in the breeze. The only Pokémon still out of their Pokéballs were Dratini, taking a nap on Flip's shoulders, and Sugar, who was fluttering along beside him.

"Don't you think you should put the Sugar in a Pokéball soon?" Cascata asked, watching the little Clefairy.

"I guess. But there's no need to do it now. She's content to just follow me, and, besides, I like having her beside me," Flip said.

"Faaairy!" it sang.

"I'd have to say, this trip through Mount Moon," Keria remarked, clutching the egg to her chest tightly. "I mean, it'd have been better if I could have caught that Onix...but, well, at least I've got this egg. It's weird, though. It was still warm when I went to sleep last night. In fact, I fell asleep holding it. I haven't figured out why, but it seems to be retaining heat really well..."

Lucien said to himself, "Maybe it's just your influence, since you've got such a hot-"

"Hot what?" Keria interrupted, staring at him. "Well? You weren't going to say I'm hot headed, were you?"

He laughed. "No! What gave you that idea? I was talking about your body-" Lucien was interrupted by Keria a second time, but this time it was by her fist instead of her words.

Flip sighed. "Just give it up, Lucien."

"Never!" he declared, recovering from the punch quickly. "I'll never surrender until I get Keria to lighten up!"

"That was a joke?" she stated, unamused.

"Yes!"

Keria's eyelids lowered further. "So, were you serious when you said I have a hot body?"

"No! Wait. I mean, yes! I mean... um..." he stammered, then turned away and began thinking aloud. "If I say no, she calls me a jerk for insulting her and attacks me. If I say yes, she calls me a jerk that only sees her as a piece of flesh and attacks me. If I say nothing at all, she calls me a jerk for holding back the truth to save my own skin and attacks me. This question has no right answer!"

"Exactly. Now, if I were you, I would use this opportunity as a lesson that you should behave around me. Understand?" she stated, turning him to look her straight in the eye.

"One problem, though. You're not me!" he stated in a cheery tone of voice.

"You've been warned, then," she sighed, pushing him away. The four started walking again. It wasn't long before they heard Cascata trying to hold back laughter. Keria was still very annoyed when she looked at Cascata. "Alright, what's so funny?"

"I-i'm sorry, but," she managed to say between giggles, "you two are just too cute!"

Keria was furious. "Cute!"

Lucien held his arms into the air in an exaggerated shrug. "I think we've well established that Keria cannot take a compliment, Cascata. However, I would be happy to be considered cute, as well as take credit for all of Keria's cuteness, if that would prevent her from hurting both of us right now."

Cascata smiled back. "I can deal with not being hurt!"

Flip started laughing. "You know, I don't remember Keria being half as irritable as she's been since Lucien showed up."

Lucien wrapped an arm around her. "She's probably just cranky, Flip. I'm sure we'll get along just fine once she's in a better mood, right?"

Keria growled, "What did I already tell you about that arm?"

He slowly lifted his arm away from her and continued walking. They hadn't gone far when Sugar began singing some sort of bouncy marching song. All four of them began walking in time with it, and their pace was quickened a bit as they headed onwards towards Cerulean City.


End file.
